The Mercenary
by Raphael Fitchburne
Summary: Because of an accident, Naruto dies...well, that's what all who know him believe. In his quest to find his way back home, he meets the Shodai Hokage. And with his guidance, he becomes the strongest shinobi who has ever lived. NarutoxHarem Chap 67 up!
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: The Fall

Sasuke was cornered. He had planned it through. He had gone alone so that he could sneak in safely, but they had been waiting for him. Clutching his sacred sword Kusanagi in his right hand, he faced three of the most dangerous shinobis in the world. Okay. Maybe not the girl. Haruno Sakura was not a threat even in his weakened state. If not for Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi protecting her every cognizant second, he could have already killed her ten times.

He was worrying about Naruto and Kakashi. They were top class. After three years of hiding, he hadn't expected to meet up with these two three levels stronger than before. Naruto could now control the massive Kyubi chakra in him. That truth had smacked him with dread the very moment he realized it. And Kakashi. His level of expertise in using his fate-given Sharingan had become as if he was an Uchiha by blood.

He had wounded Naruto fatally in the chest. He was sure it could have killed him, but the wound had regenerated in seconds without the aid of any medical technique. The Kyubi was the reason for it, he was sure. If he couldn't manage to cut Naruto's head off, he would not be able to defeat him.

The wind ruffled his raven hair as the falls behind him stirred it into motion. He had nowhere to escape to. The loud roar of the waters falling from the Konoha river into a depth no one would dare to measure hammered the realization of finality in his mind. It was now or never. Fight or get killed. With the attack he had been receiving, he had a vague idea that they were not planning to kill him. But it was not enough reason to put down his sword and accept their unsung plead for him to give up. His hatred was stronger. But the uncertainty his heart was pumping into his blood was becoming palpable by the minute. He was in a dire situation. That he would not deny.

Naruto had fixed him with his determined, piercing blue eyes. A feather of exhaustion was apparent in his breath. "It's dead end, Sasuke. Please, lower your weapon. We are only here to bring you back," he said.

Sasuke smirked. "Pathetic words. You've chased me all over the place just to say that? No wonder you lot couldn't catch me. Three of you to boot."

"Sasuke, we are not your enemy. We are your friends. _True_ friends. Come back to us. Please."

With an expression of gloating and anger mixed like coffee and cream on his face, he yelled, "Kill me, then! Kill me and you can bring me back!"

"It's no use talking to that criminal, Naruto," Sakura said.

Naruto frowned at her in disbelief. "_What?_"

"Accept it. It's useless. I have long given up on him. He's already just a trash."

"_Don't talk of him like that! You of all people! You who is the reason I'm doing this!"_

"Quit the melodrama, assholes," Sasuke said. Bits of pebbles gave in under his feet and fell into the deep abyss beneath the precipice. "Get serious! Come on!" He put back his sword into its scabbard and assumed a samurai stance of pull-and-kill—a completely defensive stance, but terribly lethal in its simplicity.

Sakura just stared at Naruto, wishing to herself that he would see why she had said those words. She was indirectly telling him that he was more important, now, more precious than the vagrant and hating Uchiha. She had come to realize that Naruto had only been uselessly pursuing a man already devoid of humanity, a goal that could kill him sooner or later. Sasuke could kill now as easily as swatting a fly. Kakashi just stood, alert, shifting his gaze between Sasuke and his two subordinates.

"Then let me show you," Sakura finally said. She glared at Sasuke with every frustration and anger the years of thinking about him had accumulated in her heart. "Let me show you how low he has gotten."

In an instant she disappeared from sight and reappeared only a few meters away from Sasuke. Naruto and Kakashi were gripped by a throat-drying fear at the imminent contact of the two—the girl who had loved the boy and the boy whom she had loved.

Sasuke smiled evilly and gripped the hilt of Kusanagi more tightly. He concentrated all the strength left in him to his right arm. The power was building and he could feel it. The slash would cut Sakura in two.

Before he realized it, Naruto was already on the run. He was faster than Sakura. He could make it in time before the collision. He just knew. One of the two would die if he just stood and watch. _"Stop it, Sakura! You're no match against him!"_

Sasuke shifted his center of gravity to his left foot and brought it up slowly. He could feel every muscle in his body passing over the force towards his right arm. Sakura was fast approaching, but to his eyes she was ridiculously slow. He could even see the particles of dust suspended in air like in a painting. The taste of blood started to conjure itself up in his tongue, an illusion he welcomed with excitement.

"_Sakura!"_ It was Naruto, running desperately to catch up to Sakura. But he was too late. Sakura cocked her right fist and pulled it towards Sasuke's face. Sasuke grinned and pulled his sword. The blade of the Kusanagi slid smoothly out of its encasing and slashed the air. A split second more and it would hit its aim. Frame by frame of time. Frame by frame. Which would be the first one to hit, Sakura's mighty punch or Sasuke's deadly slash? When the two attacks, solid, cold, and ruthless, were only a hairline away from landing, the ground beneath Sasuke gave in. The Kusanagi missed its chance. However, the punch did not. It pierced the distance and hit Sasuke in the face.

A flash of orange coming past beside her startled Sakura. The orange dived into the depth as she watched over her stretched arm. Her eyes followed the plummeting color down its path to the impending obscurity. Of course, it was Naruto.

"Naruto!" she bellowed. Kakashi was immediately beside her. A flurry of hand seals and he got a long chain. He threw it down.

"Catch it, Naruto!" Kakashi ordered.

"Please, please, reach him," Sakura prayed, unconsciously.

Naruto plunged like an arrow slicing the air. He could feel the vapor and drops of water from the falls, which looked like a giant feather duster against his stomach. He felt like he had just dived into a river rather than towards a dark abyss quite visible now below. Drops of water clung on his face and his clothes was getting more drenched as the seconds ticked automatically in his head as if there was an actual clock in there. He stretched out his arm to grab Sasuke with utmost difficulty. He noticed the chain Kakashi had thrown dangling an inch from his body. He summoned shadow clones. The first grabbed the chain. Another grabbed the first one's free hand. A third grabbed the second's free hand. It went on and on until Naruto managed to grab Sasuke's bloody robe. He threw his free hand up and the twelfth clone caught it. The impact of the raging falls was enough to sway the chain and the persons holding onto it for dear life.

"Don't let go, Naruto!" Sakura screamed in a big voice, unwomanly but she didn't care. Naruto was down a hundred to a hundred fifty meters from the precipice. The powerful sound of the falls ate up her voice and she thought for an instant that it hadn't reached Naruto. But he shouted back.

"Pull us up!"

"Hang on!" Kakashi said. He began to pull at the chain.

"I'll never let go of you," Naruto said to Sasuke.

Sasuke smiled. "Oh. You will." He touched Naruto's stomach with the tip of Kusanagi.

"You won't do that, Sasuke," Naruto told him with a tone full of disbelief and fake confidence. He was uncertain, Sasuke could not miss that.

"You yourself are not sure." Sasuke erased the smile on his face and pushed the blade through Naruto. The Kusanagi cleanly went through Naruto's back. Sasuke, in sheer brutality, twisted the sword to tell Naruto that he was already ending everything between them—the friendship, the bond, the brotherly love. It was all useless now as they were about to die and be born again not knowing who they had been in the past. Naruto stared at him with _utter_ bewilderment, but there was still a glint of hope in his eyes that irritated him. Naruto opened his mouth to speak. Blood splashed on Sasuke's face. His cold charcoal-black eyes became a notch frightening against the crimson liquid that completely covered his face.

"I'm sorry I can't…I can't save you," Naruto muttered. Then he did something Sasuke was not expecting. He smiled. "You can still save yourself." With that he closed his eyes. The clones turned into smoke. Gravity pulled at them again. They began to fall.

"Naruto!" Sakura shrieked.

"Shit!" Kakashi hissed.

It came back. That warm feeling he had felt when his brother smiled at him with hope instead of disgust the night of the Uchiha massacre. It all came back like a hammerblow. Naruto brought it back and he felt his heart opening up to do something he hadn't done for eight years. He cried. Now he was regretting it. What he had done. Sasuke refused to hold onto the chain that would save him from the bottomless darkness below. It was finished anyway. What was waiting for him up there on that solid ground was a life of eternal confinement, condemnation, and mockery. Or death. He believed they would shame him in public before they thrust the cold blade of spear into his throat. He had killed Naruto, a hero, and that was all that would matter. His previous crimes would shrink into the size of an ant or more, into oblivion. They would not care if he had ransacked an entire village and killed children and old folks. They would not _see_ that. He had killed Naruto and they would kill him because of that. Only that. So, he closed his eyes. Finally, he could rest. It was finished. He dropped his sword and it plummeted ahead of him. It was a very long fall.

Sakura stood up. "No, no, no, no, no!" she said as if it was a chant. "Naruto!" she called out amidst the roaring falls. "Naruto!"

"Go and request for a search and rescue team," Kakashi said with anxious eyes. "I'll go down and look for him." Sakura wasn't listening so he had to shake her shoulders. "Listen to me! We don't know if Naruto is already dead." Sakura tentatively nodded. "Don't worry. I'm sure he'll not die that easily. Go!"

When Sakura began rushing for Konoha, Kakashi summoned seven ninja dogs led by a pug named Paku. "Listen up. Naruto fell down. We will spread once we get at the bottom," he said.

There was an honest expression of shock on Paku's virtually impassive countenance. "Naruto fell?"

"There is no time to explain to you, guys. Time is precious. Crucially precious this time. Let's move out."

…

Sakura was not thinking of anything but reaching Tsunade's office. The trees went past her peripheral and major field of vision like crude lines of crayon on parchment, but it didn't matter to her. She even wished the trees would burn and turn into ash, and she would shovel the ash up and tossed it down to the falls. The falls. Naruto had fallen towards the bottom, the Mouth of Hades as it was locally known. The fear that she had dismissed temporarily, pushing it with her will into the farthest corner of her mind, began to creep up again. She shook her head. What was she thinking at a time like this? She should be focusing on the solution at hand. That was to reach the office of the Hokage and report what had happened right off the bat. She should hurry. When a tree blocked her way, she punched it into shards of debris. She didn't care right now if an environmentalist group protested against the act. The tree would grow anyhow as long as the root was still in the soil. But Naruto wouldn't live if his body was found dead. Time was the enemy.

Now that she thought about it, the falls—it was called Sky's Descent—was more than four kilometers high. She didn't know if somewhere in the world a falls that high or higher than that existed. But what concerned her was not the height's rarity, but the height itself. Could a human survive after falling that high even though the bottom was made of water? In addition, the falls was gigantic. Imagine the weight of the force it had. Someone too unfortunate to fall would surely die. Even Naruto.

The realization stung her eyes. Was there still a chance that Naruto had survived the fall? Once Master Tsunade had taken her on a trip to get a wild medicinal herb growing from a rich patch of earth midway of the falls. Looking around at that place, she had seen how the rocks jutted like shark's teeth along the steep face of the cliff. Naruto getting caught on one came into her mind. The image of red flesh splattering around, minced into tiny bits, the image of blood suspended in air—those almost made her faint. Her breathing was caught by a knot in her throat. For two seconds, she couldn't breathe. _Oh my God. Please spare him. I'm prepared if he becomes a vegetable, just don't let him die. Please, God._

Her praying to Kami—God—was rare for her to do. She only did it when fear of immeasurable degree appeared before her, laughing at her. Today was the day she had her most frightened state.

The gate of Konoha appeared in the distance. At last, she could feel a thread of relief. The thorn of fear was pulled out a millimeter from her back. She landed on the ground, looked around, dismissed the thought of telling the Jonin guard to make the request while she went back to help Kakashi, and went on herself. She jumped onto the rooftop of the first house she saw, splintering the shingle directly beneath her foot and prying off the shingles around it with the impact of her landing. She ran towards the administration building like her life depended on it. She reached the building in less than a minute.

"Master Tsunade! Master Tsunade!" she said as she entered the Fifth Hokage's office.

The pretty lady with long blonde hair sitting behind the desk started at her voice. The pretty lady was the Fifth Hokage. Actually, she was old, in her sixties already, but she used a regeneration technique that made her look like as she had been when she was in her twenties. Also, that technique reverted not only her skin's youth but her bodily functions as well. Her heart, kidneys, liver, pancreas, everything in her body regressed in age and worked like new. In that state, she was actually a young woman. Only that the technique spent a large amount of her chakras so she couldn't fight in her fullest when she was at it.

"Sakura? What happened?" Tsunade said.

"Naruto fell into the Mouth of Hades. Please…a rescue team…please." She was terribly exhausted and her breathing was getting thin. "Please…"

Tsunade was frowning. She stood up and went to fetch a glass of water for Sakura from the back of the office. She helped Sakura drink from the glass. "Take a deep breath…okay, that's it…okay. Now, tell me again. Slowly."

"Master Tsunade, we had been chasing Sasuke. We cornered him at the Sky's Descent. I attacked him, but the ground beneath him collapsed and he fell. Naruto dived after him and caught him, but Sasuke suddenly stabbed Naruto and they fell together. Master Kakashi stayed to look for their bodies. He believed that Naruto still lives." She whimpered. "Could that be true? Could Naruto survive that fall?"

Tsunade began to move like she had been hypnotized, whispered to, and with a flick of the fingers obeyed. She left Sakura standing there and went to her assistant's office.

"Shizune! Shizune!" Her voice thundered in the hallway. Two Jonins flinched and shrank away when she marched past them. "Shizune! Where the hell are you?"

A cute girl with short, black hair got out from the Filing Room, carrying papers in her arms. She was Shizune. "What's the matter? I was rewriting these files in here."

"Go and call for the Hyuuga and the Inuzuka search and rescue teams. Naruto is in grave danger. Now, go!"

At the mention of Naruto's name, Shizune dropped the papers and they scattered all over the floor. She ran into the Message Room.

…

Kakashi and his dogs fought their way down the steep cliff of the falls. They were rushing so it was difficult to avoid getting wounds here and there especially that the cliff was strewn with families of sharp rocks. Kakashi accidentally stepped on a loose ledge. The ledge collapsed and Kakashi slid. A rock no more than the size of an opened hand cut his back.

"Kakashi!" Paku called out.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. Carry on."

Paku didn't listen and approached him. "What's okay? You have a huge wound. Let me wrap it up, at least."

Once finished, they continued on their descent. Forty-eight minutes had passed before they reached the bottom.

One word: scary. Even for a Jonin like him, the place was like hell itself. Because of the eternal crashing of water from the river at a height of more than four thousand meters, the surrounding was always too misty to see a thing five meters from you. Without the mist it was a thick forest, undisturbed and thriving. Trees with thick trunks with branches growing in every direction possible comprised the majority of the area. Sunlight was scant if not none at all so the trees fight over dominance to survive, making them ten times larger than ordinary. Coupled with impossibly fertile soil, even calamities couldn't stop their growth.

The feet of the falls could easily have the width of a large knoll or a temple. It was huge. So huge for Kakashi that his belief that Naruto could have survived the fall waned a little. Also, there was the matter of the protruding boulders as large as houses around the falls' feet. Because of the impact, they had been forced out the ground, and the thousands of years of their existence had made their tips as sharp as blades as stray drops of water continued to hit and hone them every day. Beyond the group of boulders was a wide stream as black as pitch. That word again: scary. Back at the feet of the falls. The basin that was directly beneath the feet was called the Mouth of Hades. From the name alone, it was already obvious that the basin was of mysterious existence. The basin was deep enough to hide the whole falls under it. Monks believed that it was the actual gateway to hell. Priests believed that creatures with indescribable appearances lived in there. He hoped that Naruto had not fallen into that basin. From that height, it was possible that the direction of his fall had changed. It was better if he had fallen to the ground than to the water. The Kyubi's chakra would regenerate him anyway.

He pulled his forehead protector to uncover his Sharingan and began his search.

…

Eight minutes had already passed. Tsunade was standing at the center of her office, her foot tapping the floor with impatience. Every ten seconds, a crispy curse would go out her mouth. She would shot a glare at the door and curse again. Ten seconds. A new curse under her breath. A glare at the door. She was just suppressing herself from erupting in front of Sakura, who was now hugging her knees at a corner. She knew that Sakura was already exhausted. The Sky's Descent was a good eighty three kilometers from Konoha. And she had made the trip back for only thirty two minutes. A feat. A new record if she was in good humor for she would have already told the Record Council to write it down had it been not for the serious case they had.

Was Naruto all right? Kakashi was good at tracking. He might have gotten to Naruto by now. Tsunade gnawed at the nail of her right thumb and began pacing the room. Sakura looked up wearily at her.

"Don't look at me like that, pretty face." She glanced at Sakura if she had obeyed. Sakura had kept her stare. Tsunade hunkered in front of her. "Come on. Don't do that. Everything will be all right, okay. We will find them and they will both be alive with only a few scratches here and there."

Sakura finally looked away. "I don't care about Sasuke. Let him die. He stabbed Naruto who was just trying to save him."

"Would Naruto like to hear that from you? He was trying to save Sasuke for you."

"He was only doing that because he believed that I still loved the bastard."

"So? Wasn't that the case?"

"No. The one I truly love is him. Naruto."

Tsunade cocked her eyebrow, intrigued. "Hmmm…I didn't know that."

Sakura blushed despite of herself and unbelievably because of the situation. She nodded. "It's true. I was a fool in the past not to notice it. But now there's no one in my heart but Naruto."

"When we found him, would you confess to him? For me? I want to see Naruto happy." Tsunade offered a sweet, hopeful smile.

Outside the two teams began their ascent up the stairs going to the top floor. Their authority was tangible in the air. Some of the villagers who happened to be in the building bowed their heads when they passed by.

The Hyuuga Special Search Squad (HS3) was comprised of Neji, Hinata, and Aika. Hyuuga Neji had long, dark hair acting as background for his beautiful face. If not for his stern expression, many would think of him as a woman, especially that Hyuuga males wore long tunics. He was considered a genius and the youngest to be awarded the title of Jyuuken-Sei, in other words, Ultimate Master. His being a son of the Hyuuga Branch had been discarded, the seal on his forehead erased. Now he could attend—obliged to attend—meetings among the Hyuuga Main.

On his right was Hyuuga Hinata, who was once a shy one, but today her pretty face had a strong quality in it. All of Konoha knew that she was in love with their hero, Naruto. Because of it, many aspiring boyfriends had their hearts broken early on. They thought, especially the immigrants, that Hinata had high standards. Too high even for Naruto was internationally known as one of the best shinobis in history. A Kage material, as old folks would say. Her father had accepted her back as his daughter and the legitimate heir of the Jyuuken discipline and the Hyuuga leadership. Even though Neji was still ways ahead in skill, Hinata had proven enough that the Hyuuga clan could count on her. A ceremony had been held the day she was reinstated where all the elders and seniors of the Hyuuga clan touched their foreheads against the ground, prostrating themselves for the wrong judgment they had done on her. Hinata was now one of the five Grandmasters of Hyuuga in Jyuuken, only a level below Neji.

Another of the five Grandmasters was Hyuuga Aika, a bubbly thirteen year old girl with short white hair. She was a prodigy. Despite of her petite body, she could fight against bigger opponents. She was a member of a special family in the Hyuuga Main—the Hyuuga Hybrids. Her family had the royal blood of the ancient Hyuugas. The children born in this family had special eyes that had gold rim around the irises. They were capable of activating the eight gates without the danger of dying, unlike ordinary shinobis. Also, they had God Reflex, an ability that made it easy for them to transfer commands to and from the brain. This special ability made their reaction speed an estimated three hundred and four times faster than that of a skilled Taijutsu user. At her young age, she was already a Jonin. She entirely skipped elementary school and was trained by Jyuuken-Sei Hyuuga Kitashi himself, the legendary Firm Fist. Other than Neji, Hinata and the Jyuuken-Seis, the only other person she had lost to was Naruto. She had become curious about him and asked Hinata. With Hinata's all-compliment description of him, she fell in love with Naruto. Aika had written Naruto's name on the Hyuuga's Official Journal as her future husband. If Naruto did not sign his refusal and Aika took another man as husband, Aika would be sentenced to death as punishment.

The other team, the Inuzuka Tracking Specialists Team (ITST) was comprised of Kiba, Momoko, and Katsuo. Kiba was the dominating existence even though the two were not that behind. The reason was because he always had his big white dog with him. Akamaru, his dog, had grown muscular, more handsome in human description, more predatory in jungle words. A giant breed, Akamaru occupied a third of the hallway. His master Kiba would have been ordinary looking if not for the two red fang-shaped tattoos on his face, one on each cheek, the symbol for warrior in the Inuzuka clan. He was the top tracking shinobi of Konoha. His sense of smell was on par with Akamaru's and he reacted with his instincts more—an ability that had made him famous as the "Timing Magician" because of his uncanny premonitions in battles, usually escaping death in incredibly dire situations—than with his common sense. In battles done in forests, he always had the upper hand.

Inuzuka Momoko was the granddaughter of the Inuzuka Chieftain. Blessed with extraordinary beauty and a body that didn't get fat however much she ate, she was considered one of the most beautiful gems in Konoha. Her eyes were a pair of walnuts, sometimes almost as red as the sunset. She had long brown hair that was quite unruly because of her wild habits and smooth skin the color of rich chocolate. Painters had praised her symmetrical features, from the soft curves of her jaws, her high cheekbones, and her thin nose. The only problem about her was her tomboyish nature. She was already eighteen, but she was more rugged than most men, not a sign of femininity. For most, she was an eye candy. However, once she began to speak, her rough edges showed themselves. But don't be fooled by her looks. She was pretty skilled in Taijutsu and was born with special set of muscles most martial artists would love to have. Our body is composed of two types of muscles, the strong red muscles and the high endurance white muscles. However, she had muscles with the mixture of both—pink muscles. Thus, her physical potential shot up. Even Mighty Guy had once said that "Momoko could be a Master among the Masters."

In the past, she had been confident about her skills so she hated to train and she distrusted senseis. She had been as lazy as Shikamaru. One day Naruto challenged her in a Taijutsu duel. Of course, Naruto lost. After a week, Naruto challenged her again and again he lost. Two months passed before Naruto challenged her again. She accepted the challenge. At first she was winning. However, Naruto managed to sneak a punch in and she lost consciousness. That day she lost. After a week she decided to challenge him for a rematch. He gladly accepted. The fight was fierce. However, Naruto managed to sneak _two_ punches in this time and she lost once more. The third time she challenged him, Naruto managed to sneak five punches in. She didn't give up on challenging him as if it had become her personal mission, but each time she lost. After three hundred and fifty eight fights, she hadn't won against Naruto, yet.

"Why can't I win against you?" she had asked him. It was after their latest fight. She was holding her bruised right shoulder.

Naruto grinned at her. "It's because you're lazy and overconfident. You know, you have a gift. You could be a great Taijutsu master one day. I fought you because your cousin, Kiba, asked me to wake you up from that bad behavior. The first time I lost to you, I took special classes from Guy-sensei. I worked hard so that I would be able to be skillful in Taijutsu. I'm not like you who can easily simulate and understand the purpose of a move, but I don't stop until I perfect a move as my sensei wanted it to be. You can't beat me until now because I keep on challenging Guy-sensei to push me harder so that I can become like Rock Lee, his chosen disciple. Momoko-chan, I envy you for having a body designed for Taijutsu, but if you will not put hard work in the equation and trust experienced fighters to teach you, that gift will be wasted on you."

Naruto's words struck her like thunderbolt. Many of her relatives had said those words before, but she ignored them. But this time, even though she wanted to ignore him, rebel against him, threw him a tantrum designed to piss him off, she couldn't. The tone that Naruto had used to speak those words that she had heard a thousand times before had made her feel special, respected, and loved at the same time.

"What should I do then?" she said.

"I heard that the Inuzuka clan is full of strong masters. Find one and work hard."

Before Naruto could go on, Momoko tiptoed and bit him on the neck, leaving four fang marks on it. Naruto clasped a hand over the small wounds and stared at Momoko, confused. Momoko just smiled and left. He did not know that the gesture was the first of the four traditional rituals of engagement in the Inuzuka clan. Momoko had just made him her "target." I guess she was just too mad at me, was what Naruto thought.

Momoko found a master of her liking and worked hard under her guidance. In just one year, she mastered skills that normally taught after fifteen years of apprenticeship. Her master said to her, "I'm happy that you've come back. Now that you impart diligence and conviction in your training, you might surpass me in two years."

The last of the Inuzuka team was Katsuo. He was a big guy with a pelt of polar bear on his back. He had small eyes and what covered his scalp wasn't hair but symbolic tattoos, characters only the Inuzuka elders would understand. He didn't speak much, but he was popular for being kind to animals and small children. His most potent weapon was the Lion's Roar, a Taijutsu technique requiring strength and control of the respiratory system, especially the vocal chords. His voice once amplified could demolish a concrete building. Another skill he had was his ability to speak with wolves. Not like Kiba who could communicate only to Akamaru, Katsuo could communicate with every kind of wolves that were already capable of deciding for themselves. Nobody but him could do this. This skill made him indispensable in the ITST.

They reached Tsunade's office. Tsunade sighed and said, "Finally."

_To be continued…_

Author's Note: Um…a piece of warning. This story will be an extreme harem story. So, those who don't like Naruto hogging all the babes, stop reading here. Um…a piece of promise. Naruto will not be a badass here like the one in my Seeking Freedom. He's the usual Naruto…I hope. Send in reviews no matter how bad you badmouth this story. I just want to know that there are people who are actually reading my work. Thanks!

One more thing, I want to thank all the people who sent in reviews for my Seeking Freedom fic. I appreciate all even though some of the reviews were low blows. He he. Can't be helped. I especially liked the detailed ones with pieces of advice inserted conspicuously or not. Besides, the "_what if"_ factor exists. I mean, from the reviews I receive the direction of the story might change…a little. If a review convinces me, that is. It happens and I've done it before.

Smile.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2: The Bad News

Tsunade stood up and faced the two teams. Sakura weakly looked at them from her seat.

Neji showed Tsunade the red container—small like a baby's finger—where the message had been put into. The fastest courier hawk had brought it to him. "This means that it's urgent. Who are we searching for?" he said.

"Something went wrong with Team Kakashi's mission. Naruto fell down into the Mouth of Hades."

"What?" Not all of them blurted this out. But Tsunade was sure everyone was shocked.

"What happened?" Momoko said, and stepped forward. She stood next to Neji. "Kakashi was with them, right?"

"Naruto tried to save Sasuke," was all Tsunade could tell.

Knowing that she could no longer get an answer from Tsunade, Momoko approached Sakura. "Sakura-chan, how the hell did that happen?"

"Momoko," Tsunade said, "let's save the questions for later. You need to get there fast. Kakashi stayed to search for Naruto, but the bottom of that falls is pretty wide. It's better if you leave now."

Sakura pushed herself up against the wall. She was noticeably shaking. "I'm going, too."

Momoko saw this and compassion filled her heart. "Can you even stand up?" she said.

"I will go no matter what you say. Nobody can stop me."

"Kiba, Neji, make sure you find him," Tsunade said. "Hinata, pull out four, no, five teams of ANBUs to help out. Sakura, you will stay here."

Sakura almost shouted when she heard this. "No! I'll go!"

"This is a crucial situation, Sakura! You know yourself that you'll just be a burden to them. They need to move fast, even faster than necessary."

"Please—"

Tsunade turned around and scolded Sakura with the fiercest expression she could come up with. "That's an order!" She stared at Sakura and Sakura stared back. They kept it for a full five seconds. "You will stay here." She jerked her head back at the two teams. "Now, go!"

Kiba and Neji nodded in assent. Momoko hesitated for a split second before following. She wanted to protest to Tsunade, but Tsunade was right. Sakura began to cry.

As Momoko was about to step out of the room, Hinata came running in. She embraced Sakura with all her might.

"Everything will be all right, okay," Hinata said. "We'll find Naruto." She kissed Sakura's cheek. "You need to listen to Master Tsunade and rest. Naruto-kun would want to see you well when he got back."

Hinata's words not only brought smile to Sakura's lips, but to Momoko's and Tsunade's as well.

"Playing martyr, Hinata-chan?" Momoko teased as Hinata passed by.

"You wanted to do that, too, am I right?" Hinata smiled. "Now let's bring back Naruto-kun."

…

Even though all of them knew about the Sky's Crescent history and they had seen its general geography above and below from books, once they arrived at the bottom, the ambience of the place took their breath away. Even the Inuzuka trio, who had been in many forests before, felt a chill up their spines as they stood in that abnormally thick mist.

Aika blew air from her cute mouth—now her lips were pale—as if to whistle but not a note turned up. "Wowee, talk about scary," she said. "It will be hard to see here even with our Byakugan."

"We'll pair up," Neji said. "Hinata-Momoko, Aika-Kiba. I'll go with Katsuo. That way each team will have a pair of eyes and a nose."

The captain of the ANBU team, which was composed of twenty five people, approached Neji. His mask had become moist because of the floating mist. "We'll be searching on our own. Sorry for our selfishness."

"I understand," Neji said. "Good luck."

"Yeah. Good luck."

Like a flock of flies shooed away, all that could be seen were the lines of their departure when they moved out.

…

"The search team has arrived. They are already on the move. It's a big team. Thirty-one people," Paku reported to Kakashi. They were around eight hundred meters from the Mouth of Hades. They had been searching along the stream. The thickness of the mist hadn't changed a bit.

"That's good," Kakashi said.

"Aren't you going to talk to one of them?"

"It'll be a waste of time. We need to hurry with our search. Naruto should have already hit the water two hours ago. And—" Kakashi suddenly put a hand over his Sharingan, "—my Sharingan is draining my chakra quicker than normal."

"It must be due to this abnormal atmosphere," Paku said, emphasizing his statement by looking around. "In addition, you fought with Sasuke. You wasted your energy by trying hard not to inflict him with fatal damage. I think you should rest a bit."

"There's no time." Kakashi stood up and resumed his search.

...

Orochimaru stood up from his perch, smiling. He hadn't changed much. He was still the sickly looking villain the whole world knew of—pale and pasty skin, emaciated cheeks, and long, dull hair. Wasn't it that Itachi had already killed him? No. He had survived through Kabuto. He was Yuki no Orochi, the White Snake. He could enter a body be it dead or still alive. He could enter the mind. It was easy for him to transform into a single tiny cell, propagate, and be born again. That was what he had done. Kabuto had grafted Orochimaru's cell in his forearm, found a suitable body, and transferred the cell into that body. Now he lived but with a single flaw. Because he had almost died once, taking on another body would be very dangerous. He could no longer do it without risking his life. He had met with Madara and expressed his desire to be an Akatsuki again. Madara accepted him back.

"So, you are just interested now in destroying Konoha," Madara had said. "How about your desire to learn every Ninjutsu in this world?"

"What I know is enough," Orochimaru said, "I've already accepted that I will die in the end. No one can be immortal. History never permits that."

"I managed to outlive myself. I'm as old as Konoha, don't forget."

Orochimaru smiled at this. "History is not tired of you, yet. But, once she is, one way or another, you will die."

"Interesting. That's an amusing philosophy."

"I'm sure. I've died once already." He was laughing as he left. This was three years ago.

Madara suddenly appeared beside him on the branch of the tree. He was still wearing his orange mask, which only had a hole for his right eye, and had curving lines that made a whirlpool on it in which the eyehole was the center. He was carrying Sasuke on his shoulder.

Orochimaru looked at Sasuke, longingly. "Once my prey," he said.

"He is virtually dead. Only his chakra remains. We have two more hours, tops."

"That's easy. Uchiha has strong blood. They don't die easily. How about the other one?"

"I let the stream take him wherever it wants. He's dead."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Even his chakra is gone."

Orochimaru was amused. He cocked an eyebrow. "You never know. That boy is—was…rather amazing. But, well, even if he's still breathing, he will soon die. Kakashi has been searching for him, has he not?"

"He was too late. Naruto had gone very far already when he arrived at the bottom."

"We were late as well. Only earlier than him. So, what do you plan on doing? Will you let the situation as it is? They might accidentally find our hideout if they kept on searching along the stream."

"Shizumaru made a fake using a dead body. The blood he collected from the Kusanagi was enough to replicate the boy. They will not know the difference."

"Accessories? Clothing? Isn't it better if you have just collected the boy, killed him a second time, and left him for them to find?"

Madara was quiet. Of course, Orochimaru had a point. That was the best solution. But, would he tell him what had really happened? It was unbelievable. In the end, he decided to tell Orochimaru. "I couldn't touch him. He sank before I could grab him."

"Sank? In the stream?"

"Yes."

Orochimaru laughed. "Even nature doesn't want him to be touched by evil hands."

"Anyway, nothing to worry about. We have a stock of clothing similar to what Naruto was wearing. Some of our underlings had already disguised as him in the past. The crystal was the only problem, but it is easy to conclude that the stream has taken it away. More importantly, we need to revive Sasuke before it's too late. Show me how incredible you really are."

With that they were gone.

…

Kakashi found the body in the middle of the stream a kilometer and a half from the Mouth of Hades. A jutting rock in the stream had caught it and the current swayed its arms and legs lifelessly like a ragdoll. He leaped towards the rock. Perching on it, he leaned down and picked up the body. He shot a cable to a tall tree and swung himself to the shore. He laid the body down on the pebbles. He didn't need to look at it closely to recognize the face. There was no doubt. It was Naruto.

He searched for a pulse, immediately, using both hands. On the neck, on the wrist, on the center of the chest. None. Every second seemed to him like a cube of ice being put one by one around his body. Soon, he was trembling because of those imaginary ice cubes courtesy of his fear. He could see the tremors on his hands. Not in his life had he been like this. "No, no," he muttered. He tore his mask, still not letting go of the hope that Naruto was still alive. _Just a small sign. God, just a small sign is all I need. _Frantically, he lowered his right cheek above Naruto's lips, eyes shut, praying for a small breath. None. He moved towards Naruto's chest, listened, and got disappointed. "No, no. Naruto, please." He would never let go of him. He opened Naruto's mouth and blew some air into it. He pumped at Naruto's chest, went to his mouth again, pumped at his chest again. Still, there was no reaction. "Naruto, come on! Breathe, goddamn it! Breathe!" He repeated this until eventually his strength left him. If he could see his face, he could see in there disbelief, fear, sadness, anger, frustration, and despair mixed in a mocking way, mocking him. "Shit…shit…" No one could see him, but, even if someone could, he would not care. He sat on the ground and put his face in his hands. It was the very first time that calm Kakashi, ever since he got out of his childhood, had cried. If Sasuke was there, he could have killed him without a fleck of remorse.

He weakly fumbled for his radio and called Paku. "It's me. I found him."

"Where are you?" Paku sounded relieved.

"Sector 23, one-five-three-three kilometers from the mouth."

"Is he okay?"

Kakashi wanted to keep the truth from Paku as much as from himself, but he knew that it was no use. "We are…too late."

Paku was quiet for ten seconds. "Oh, my. I'll gather everyone. Over and out."

In just two minutes, twenty five ANBUs arrived at the place. Some looked away when they saw the body.

"Anyone has a bag?" Kakashi asked. He put on a new mask to cover his face.

An ANBU approached and produced a rolled rubber bag. "Here."

"Don't tell the kids, yet. Paku, have you told the kids?"

"I'm sorry. They're coming," Paku said.

"Prepare shots of tranquilizer. We'll need them." Carefully, he laid the bag down, and, as if handling the most fragile earthen vase, he carried Naruto's body over it. He zipped up the bag too carefully that it seemed he would finish the act for a full one minute. As he stood up, he noticed some movements from the bushes. Akamaru's whimper was audible.

Akamaru whimpered when he recognized the smell. Momoko was frozen at the sight of the bag. She knew what it meant, but still she sought for some denial from the other people around. Akamaru sniffed at the bag and suddenly howled.

"No, no," Momoko began. "Is that…no, don't say it."

Kiba got off Akamaru, knelt beside the bag, and pulled down the zipper to reveal Naruto's face. Momoko fell to her knees and screamed. Katsuo immediately pulled her aside and chanted some soothing words into her ears. Kiba backed off and went to Akamaru. He buried his face in Akamaru's soft fur and sobbed.

"Aika!" Neji yelled.

Aika pushed Hinata few steps away from the bag. "It's okay. It's nothing. You don't have to look." Hinata was breathing hard. She was shooting glances at Aika and the bag. Her lips were open and began to get dry. "Please, believe me." Aika's voice cracked, betraying her true emotions. "There's…" She embraced Hinata and cried. "Hinata-onee-chan…Hinata-onee-chan…"

Neji was clenching his jaws. "Close it." No one moved. "Close it, damn it!"

Kakashi heeded his words. Upon completing the action, Hinata fainted.

"Give the girls some sedative. Now!" Kakashi said. Two ANBUs gave Momoko and Aika a shot each in the arm. They counted fifteen seconds and the girls fell asleep. "Okay. I hope you three don't need any," he said to Neji.

"No."

Kakashi sighed through his nose. "Okay. Let's move."

…

The Jonins and the ANBUs arrived twenty past twelve of the clock that evening. Neji, Kiba, and Katsuo had Hinata, Aika, and Momoko in their arms while Kakashi had Naruto. Upon arriving, Paku and his dog colleagues disappeared into smoke. An ANBU immediately went to fetch Tsunade and when they came back, Tsunade went to see Naruto right away. Kakashi gently set the bag down and pulled down the zipper to show Tsunade Naruto's face. Tsunade barely held her emotions when she saw him, but she forced herself to suppress them so as not to let her subordinates see her cry. At her command, they take Naruto to the morgue and the three girls they brought to the hospital. Kakashi and the ANBUs stayed for a while for Tsunade's instructions, but all she said to them was, "Leave." She wanted to say that she would conduct an autopsy on Naruto, but all that came after that was, "Please."

Alone in the morgue where dead bodies had their own place in the large freezer, Tsunade stood beside Naruto, staring with intensity at his face. After a moment she reached out and pulled Naruto's head into her bosom. The cold skin against hers became the spark that lit the fuse of her heart. She let go of the tears that had been in her eyes all along and cut the silence with soft "I love you," "I'll miss you," and "You'll always be my son." She held him to her for a very long time, whispering sweet endearments she had not had the chance to tell him when he was still alive. She regretted holding back her love for him, and now that he was there but would never hear her despite being near, she could not help but feel stupid. She gently set his head down on the metal table and put a tender kiss on his forehead. Straightening up to look at him for the last time, she said, "I'll never forget you, Naruto. Goodbye."

…

Sakura opened her eyes when she heard the commotion below. She was on the second floor. It was a wonder for her that the gossip-loud voices coming from below reached her ears. She felt apprehensive. Her spine was tingling. She willed herself to get out of bed, pulling the tubes that supplied her body with food and water from her hands. On her way to the door, she kept telling herself that what was waiting for her was good news, that the anxiety that had so suddenly struck her was just a cruel prank of her imagination, and that Naruto would be in a room somewhere and waiting for her to visit. However, once outside, what greeted her was Kiba's grave expression.

"Where is he?" Sakura said. "Is he all right?"

"He…" Kiba gulped, "…he's dead, Sakura."

Sakura stared at Kiba with accusing eyes and, as if her mouth had its own life, said, "I don't believe you. Don't kid around."

"I'm sorry."

"I said don't kid around!" Sakura ran past Kiba with speed that surprised even her. She reached the admission counter on the first floor and asked, "Uzumaki Naruto. His room, please." The attendant looked towards Neji and Katsuo who were sitting on a bench nearby. Sakura followed the attendant's gaze and saw the two. She went to them. "Where's Naruto?"

"Sakura…" Katsuo began, but Neji cut in.

"He's with Master Tsunade at the morgue."

Sakura glared at Neji. "Stop fooling with me!"

"Nobody is fooling with you!" Neji looked into Sakura's eyes. "Look, I know you're upset, but so are we. No one wanted this to happen, Sakura. He's dead. The best thing we can do for him right now is to accept it."

"No…" And her tears began to flow. "No." She sprinted towards the morgue. "Naruto! Where is he?"

Tsunade stood up from the bench she had been sitting in. "Sakura?"

Sakura collapsed to her knees like a bombed building, too fast as if her lower half had suddenly been hacked off from her body. Naruto was there all right, there and dead. Her right hand found her mouth, and she suppressed a scream. What came out from that otherwise lovely mouth was a mixture of a moan and blubber, as if she was going to choke.

Tsunade embraced her, saying, "Shush, shush, Sakura. He just had to. He just had to go, honey. Let's let him go, okay. Let us."

…

Gaara was the fifteen-year-old young man sitting at the desk that belonged to the most important person in Sunagakure. He was the Kazekage. He had red hair that he kept very short, just enough to cover his scalp. Black markings that rimmed his eyes made his stare compelling and dreadful at the same time. A red tattoo of the character for "Demon" had been put on a patch of skin above his left eye. It reminded him of what he had used to be when he was a child—a killer—and made him more caring as Sunagakure's leader.

The stone door opened and Temari entered. She was seventeen years old and possessed a tomboyish kind of beauty. She always tied her golden hair into two pairs of pony tails behind her head and carried her large iron fan—her weapon—that she slung on her back everywhere. She was Gaara's older sister.

Gaara looked up. "Temari. What brings you here?"

"I have bad news."

He frowned. "Tell me."

"I received report that Naruto…Naruto is already dead."

Gaara's eyelids parted, leaving his pupils suspended at the center of his eyes, looking like they had just shrunk in size. "What did you say?"

"His body was found last night near the Mouth of Hades. He had been fighting with Sasuke when the accident happened. The Hokage decided to commence the burial in three days."

"Naruto is dead?" Temari didn't answer. "Tell the whole village about this. Put the flags in half-mast. I'll go to Konoha and nobody can stop me."

"Nobody will stop you, Gaara. Kankuro said the same thing. I'll go with you. This will be the last time we'll see of the man that saved you and Sunagakure for that matter."

…

Umino Iruka was the name of the man who was now running frantically on the street towards the hospital. He was the first teacher who had believed in Naruto. The large scar across his face was as pale as his lips. His usual calm countenance was distorted in panic.

He reached the admission ward and looked around. He found Neji and talked to him. "Is it true? Is Naruto dead?" Even before the confirmation, his tears had already begun to flow. "Where is he?"

"We will have the wake, shortly," Tsunade said, coming out from the corner going to the morgue. Her eyes were swollen from crying. "He is getting groomed right now. We will see him, shortly."

"May I see him? May I see him, Master? Please, before he is put inside the glass. Please, let me see him."

"I can't do that. I'm sorry, Iruka. You have to wait."

"No." He turned around and settled himself on the bench. "No." He put his face in his hands. "I can't believe this."

…

The first group of villagers composed of twenty persons came to the hospital at seven-twelve. On their faces was the hope that the news that they had heard was just a cruel prank from someone. The ten ANBUs guarding the doors of the hospital didn't let them go in.

"ANBU-san, he is still alive, right? Naruto-kun? It was just a lie, right?" said one.

"We will not believe this ridiculous news unless we see Naruto!" said another.

"Please, tell us. Please," said a third.

But the ANBUs kept quiet.

Two hours later, the group grew in number. From twenty, it grew to more than eight hundred heads. Everyone was hopeful that Naruto was still alive. When Tsunade finally went outside at ten, there were already two thousand villagers outside the hospital. She blinked at the large crowd and stopped.

"What's going on?" she asked one ANBU.

"They want confirmation, Ma'am."

"Look! It's Master Tsunade!" said an old man. The people shifted their attention towards Tsunade. "Master Tsunade, we want to know the real situation. How is Naruto?"

Tsunade felt a pang of panic. She hesitated to tell them. Hurting them was the least thing she wanted to do to the villagers. She searched for a way out. However, as she scanned the faces of the people, she caught sight of a child and her wavering suddenly collapsed. She raised her hands to shush them.

"I regret to tell this to you, but the news of Naruto's death is true." The villagers gasped in unison. "He was on a mission when the accident happened. We found him last night near the Mouth of Hades. He is now resting in peace. He didn't suffer." That was a lie she thought she must add. "Please, pray for his soul."

…

Tsunade went to her office. Upon entering it, she caught sight of a framed picture on top of her filing cabinet. It was a picture of her, Shizune, Naruto, and Jiraiya taken at the time Konoha was in need of a new Hokage after the Third's death in the hands of Orochimaru. She picked it up. She remembered her first impression of Naruto. She had thought that he was an idiot and had no potential. However, he had intrigued her when he said that he would be a Hokage someday.

"You? Hokage? In your dreams!" she had said.

"You can laugh, now!" Naruto replied. "But I promise you that I'll be the best Hokage of all time."

The memory brought a smile to her lips.

"He doesn't have talent," Jiraiya had said. "But he has the making of a great man. I bet my life on it."

Naruto had proven himself when he saved her from Kabuto using the Rasengan that he had somehow learned despite of the technique's level of difficulty. That time she had honestly admired the boy. She had even given him the amulet her grandfather, the First Hokage, had bestowed in her possession.

She blinked at the thought. Naruto had not been wearing her amulet when the ANBU brought him last night. She shook her head. The river must have taken it away from him. Now that she thought of it, every person she had given that amulet to had died. It might be better that it was gone. That way the curse was stopped. Would the river begin to die, too? She smiled as she replaced the frame.

There was a knock at the door. When she allowed entrance, Shizune came in. She was carrying a bunch of letters.

"These arrived a few hours ago," Shizune said.

"Tell me about the important ones."

"The Kazekage, Mizukage, Raikage, and Tsuchikage had expressed their desire to come for the burial. Our enemies had issued a temporary truce and promised to respect the ceremony we will conduct for, in their own words, 'a very important existence in the world.'"

"Even the enemies, huh? Their spies surely work hard."

"The other letters came from Naruto's friends in other countries."

"Put them on my desk."

Shizune did as told. "You should take a short nap, Master Tsunade. You haven't had any sleep."

Tsunade smiled a little. "It's too late, now. Your first love just died. What will you do, Shizune?"

"How long have you known that?"

"Ever since the day I saw you smiling to yourself. Indulge me, Shizune. How did it happen?"

"I promised to keep this to myself forever because it's embarrassing. But, now, I think it's all right. Let's get some tea."

_To be continued…_

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, guys! Hope you continue on reading!


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3: The Memory of a Lost Love

Shizune arrived a few minutes after Tsunade had called for her. Naruto was already there, sitting on the edge of Tsunade's desk. Impatience was already beginning to creep on his handsome face. She smiled to herself. She had just thought that Naruto was handsome. She shrugged. It was true anyway. What was wrong with that?

"Master Tsunade," she said.

Without looking up, Tsunade said, "I have a mission for the both of you. You two will establish cover in the Valley of Thorns...as a couple."

Shizune noticed that Naruto was suspicious of Tsunade. He might be thinking that the pause before 'as a couple' had something to do with everything.

"Isn't it better that I go with another male Jonin? Or better still, if I just go alone?" Naruto said.

"If you go alone, you'll not be doing anything but attract suspicion, you idiot. And going with another male is worse," Tsunade replied.

Shizune said, "No kunoichi has arrived, yet?"

Tsunade shook her head. "No one is available right now. And Naruto..." She frowned. Shizune looked at Naruto and found that he was blushing. "What's with that face? Don't go around thinking perverted stuff while you're in front of me!"

"I can't help it!" Naruto said. "This is my first time going on a mission alone with a girl. And with Shizune-san, too...I didn't mean anything about that, Shizune-san. It's just—"

Tsunade sighed. "Your main priority is to spy on their government's secret dealings. I have received report that this village is currently financing Akatsuki. And Naruto, this is not an assault mission. Whomever you see, never initiate attack. I'll just send you two for surveillance. Is that clear?"

"You mean to say that some of the Akatsuki might show up?"

Tsunade nodded. "It's highly possible, so be always on your guard."

Naruto clenched his fist. He seemed excited. "Okay. I accept. When do we depart?"

"I want you to be there as early as tomorrow. You'll depart this evening."

"I can hardly wait! See you later, then, Shizune-san. I'll go prepare my things. I'll be at my apartment if you want to talk about the mission."

Shizune just nodded and watched as Naruto bounced out of the room.

"He seemed in full spirits," Tsunade said.

Shizune glared at her. "What are you doing? Why did you suddenly pitch me up with Naruto?"

"I have no choice. And what's with that tone? You sound as if you don't like to be paired up with Naruto."

"Yes. He was Jiraiya-sensei's disciple. I'm sure Naruto has been contaminated by his perverseness."

"Then why did you keep quiet while Naruto had been complaining earlier? I might have given in if you supported him."

"I was just too surprised to talk. But did you notice his blush? I got nervous thinking what was going on in his mind."

"Shizune, he's fifteen. You're twenty-two. Aside from that, you know a list of techniques that can disable him, completely. What are you afraid of?" Shizune was silent. "I know Naruto. I believe in him. He's not like Jiraiya who's a pervert to the core."

Tsunade had a point, but…"If he got beaten up by me, it's your fault. Hmph!"

Shizune stomped away out of the office.

…

In his apartment, Naruto was packing his clothes when he heard knocks coming from the door.

"Coming!" he said. He left what he was doing and went to open the door. It was Shizune. "Shizune-san! Come in!" He stepped aside to let her through. "Have a seat. I'll get you a drink."

Naruto went to the kitchen. Shizune silently took in the room. The place was tidy, but there was an unmistakable personality about it that made her think that the room was really owned by a man. Naruto returned with a pitcher of juice, a glass, and cookies. He poured juice into the glass and sat on the sofa across her.

"Are you here for the mission?" he said.

Shizune took a sip from her glass. "How will you treat me as your wife, Naruto?"

Naruto was obviously taken aback. He blushed. "I haven't thought about that, yet."

Shizune let out an exasperated sigh. "What you're doing is a no-no, Naruto."

"What is?"

"That. Your face. You blush at the slightest hint of romance."

Naruto looked away in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I can't help it."

"This is going to be difficult."

"This is my first time on a mission alone with a girl. I'm not used to it."

"Then quit imagining things!"

"It's not that. I'm more like embarrassed with the idea."

"To make this work, you have to be comfortable with me."

"Do you have something on your mind that could help me?"

"Can you even hold my hand without shaking?" When Naruto didn't reply, she said, "Let me rephrase the question. Have you ever held hands with a girl before?"

Naruto shook his head no.

"You mean, ever?"

"I think I have done it, unconsciously. I mean, when the situation requires it. But, as soon as I notice what I'm doing, I let go."

Shizune stared at him, dumbfounded. _Look at this, Master Tsunade! Why did you come up with such a ridiculous idea?_

Naruto said, "Am I really required to be quite…intimate with you? Can't we just pretend to be together? Besides, displaying affection in public is considered impolite."

"No. We don't know what might happen during the mission. There might come a time when we need to kiss or be seen doing this and that in front of many people."

Naruto's blush deepened. He swallowed. "With you?"

Shizune cocked an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me? Of course, it's with me!" She sighed. "I refuse to go if you're not ready for this."

"I don't want to fail this mission, too. Maybe there are more suitable guys for this mission than me. If you think that I'm not suitable, I'll tell Master Tsunade about it."

"The only names that are not scheduled for a mission, yet, are Lee and Neji. Compared to those two, you are more...ordinary. Besides, I can't imagine myself going out with them."

The expression on Naruto's face was like asking her, "And me? Can you imagine yourself going out with me?"

So she cleared her throat and added, "Don't mind that last sentence. Anyway, let's practice."

"Practice?"

"Yes. First, tell me what you think about me. Honestly."

"Do I have to?"

"This is so I'll know how I will act around you."

Naruto looked away. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Geez, do I still have to tell you? Okay. What do you think of my appearance?"

"Um...for me...um...you're pretty cute. To tell you the truth, I like...I like the way you look."

Shizune was unmoved with his confession. She thought that he was just telling that. No strings attached. But, there were strings. "All right. That's a good start. At least, you like something about me. I like your appearance, too. Just don't grin too much because it makes you look stupid."

"Sorry."

"I was complimenting you there. Now, what do you know about my personality?"

"This sounds like a marriage interview."

"Of course. You will be my husband in this."

Naruto was pressured by her stare. "You're kind and reliable. You also work hard, and you know how to use your time, wisely."

"This is not a guessing game. What you just told me is applicable to every conscientious villager here. Tell me about me."

Naruto shot her a look, considering. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Of course."

"But, it's a little…"

"Are you telling me or not?"

"Okay. Don't hate me for this." He cleared his throat as if what he was going to tell her was of global importance. "You love animals, especially pigs and frogs. You love bitter food. You hate drunks and gamblers, except Master Tsunade. You haven't had any serious relationship with a man before because you dedicate your time in mastering medical techniques. You don't eat pork. You love dark colors. You bathe three times a day…" He trailed off when he saw that Shizune was gaping at him. "Shizune-san?"

She blushed. "Have you been spying on me?"

"I told you—"

"I'm asking the question!"

Naruto cringed. "No! Of course, not!"

"Then how did you know?"

"I…" Naruto's face had turned as red as a tomato. "I…I asked around about you."

"What?"

Naruto panicked. "I didn't mean anything by that! I mean, I'm just interested in you because you're not like every girl I've met. I'm sorry if that made you mad."

His words were sincere. He wasn't hiding anything. Shizune felt that and relaxed a little. Even though she wouldn't admit it, she was flattered. "How did you know that I bathe three times a day?" she asked.

"Master Tsunade accidently told that to me. But I didn't ask about it! Honest!"

"I'll kill you if you tell that to anyone, do you understand?"

"Yes! I promise!"

Shizune looked around, casually, thinking. The conversation had been striking fuse after fuse in her rather routine type of life, and for her it was making her slightly on edge. "But I'm surprised you know this much about me," she finally said. "I didn't know that someone would be this interested in me." She looked back at Naruto. He was watching his feet. She suppressed a small giggle that could have embarrassed him even more. Naruto was so cute at that time she wanted to pinch his cheeks. "Anyway, back to business. What do you think about it, my personality?"

Naruto looked up. "As I said, it intrigues me."

"Do you like me the way I am?"

Naruto looked away and nodded. She smiled. The giggle threatened to go out once again. She swallowed it. "Anyway, now that you told me what you think about me, it's my turn. I'll just sum up everything, okay." She stared at Naruto while considering if she should say what was on her mind or not. She decided to say it. "I like you, Naruto."

Naruto blinked at her in surprise.

She knew by the look on his face what was on his mind. She teased him a little. "What's the matter? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Must be my imagination. Sorry."

"You don't like what you heard?"

"I thought for a second that you were confessing to me."

Shizune laughed. It had a clear, exotic sound. "Let's not be secretive with each other. I'm already twenty-two. From what you said, I can confidently conclude that you like me...a lot. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing. The truth is it will make things easier between us."

"Okay."

Silence.

Shizune had never expected that it would come up to this. She hadn't had any idea that this boy in front of her had a crush on her. As he was now, she knew that if she didn't make the first step, nothing would materialize. The flame would extinguish by itself. The silence enfolding them at the moment was enough to undo the magic. So she stood up. She went and sat close to Naruto. Really close. Naruto swallowed.

"Is my conclusion correct? Do you like me...as a woman?" Shizune said, a sly smile on her lips.

Naruto shot a look at the door. Gulping, he scooted away from her. "Shizune-san, don't you think this is getting overboard?"

Shizune scooted and smothered Naruto to the arm of the couch. "I'm asking you a question."

"If I told you that I do?"

"Then I would be flattered. Now. This is very important to establish a convincing partnership." She paused, dramatically. "Naruto, kiss me."

Horrified, Naruto blurted out, "What? I can't do that!"

"Remember what I told you. It's very important for you to be comfortable with me."

"No! Even if it's for the mission!"

Shizune stood up and crossed her arms, pretending to be irritated. "If you will be like that, I refuse to go!"

"But, Shizune-san, it's a kiss," Naruto argued. "It's something you should only give to the one you love."

"Don't be a child forever. We are ninjas. A kiss is a potent weapon in time of need. Besides, don't take this too personal, Naruto. We are just practicing. What if someone saw us being awkward with each other? If you can't do this simple act with me, how do you intend to deceive the scrutinizing eyes of other people?"

"But..." Naruto surrendered. He sighed. "Okay."

Shizune glanced at him. "What's okay?"

"We can…we can kiss."

Shizune sat back rather too enthusiastically beside him.

"Who will do it?" Naruto asked.

"You are doing it. Men always initiate these things." She closed her eyes. "Don't think. Just do it."

Naruto stared at Shizune's pretty face. His blushing face reddened even more. "Do we really need to do this?"

"Just do it!"

"O-okay."

Naruto closed his eyes, leaned over, and kissed Shizune. Seconds passed by. Shizune pulled back and giggled. She was blushing, enjoying the moment. Naruto still had his lips puckered in front of her.

"You can open your eyes, now," Shizune said. Naruto opened his eyes. "See? There's nothing to it."

Dazed, Naruto said, "Your lips were soft." He caught himself. "I didn't mean anything by it!"

"That was very flattering. Listen. Like you, this is my first time doing this kind of mission. We should support each other. Think of me as your wife from now on."

"Is it really okay?"

"Yes, it is. For now. It's very necessary that we establish connection. It's in the book." Shizune stood up to leave. "I think we're ready. See you later."

"Ah, Shizune-san, would you mind if I ask a personal question?"

"What would you like me to answer?"

Naruto hesitated for a second. "If...if by any chance..."

Shizune faced him with a knowing expression on her face. She admitted to herself that she had gone overboard. A part of her brain regretted her insinuation, a part was grateful she had done it. But, it was enough. She didn't want to push it further. "Think about it thoroughly, Naruto, before you ask it to me. But, in this mission, I'll temporarily be your girlfriend, so don't waste this chance." She winked at him and left.

…

Walking on one of the streets in the Village of Thorns, Shizune and Naruto seemed more like siblings than a couple. They were too shy even to hold hands. The tension between them was palpable. The conversation yesterday seemed to have worsened their awkwardness to each other.

Naruto said, "So, our talk was useless."

"Yes, it was," Shizune replied.

"What about you being my girlfriend?"

"That was just a spur of the moment."

"So, how do we call our relationship right now?"

Shizune threw Naruto a deadly sideway glance. Her eyes were full of sleeplessness. "Are you that desperate to have a girlfriend?"

"No, no! Of course, not! I just feel that we are now more awkward to each other than we would have been if we didn't have that conversation."

An old man sweeping in front of a small fruit stand noticed them. "Lover's quarrel? It's so good to be young! Are you new here?"

"We are on our honeymoon, oji-san," Naruto said. "I heard about your hot springs here. They're quite popular so we thought why not pay a visit."

"Oh, yes, indeed. Our hot springs here are known in the whole world."

"Yeah." Naruto smiled at Shizune, triumphantly. A potential lead."Uh, oji-san, would you mind if I ask about a rumor about this village?"

"A rumor. What rumor?"

Naruto leaned in, conspiringly. In a soft voice, he said, "Is it true that Akatsuki often visits this village?"

"Oh, that rumor. I don't know if it's true, but some people said that they had seen some suspicious men wearing black cloaks talking to government officials."

Naruto pretended to worry. "Really? Are we going to be safe if we stay here?"

"Don't worry. Up until now, this village has always been peaceful. As a matter of fact, that rumor attracts more tourists."

"Honey! Where are you?" called an old voice of a woman from inside the fruit stand.

"Oh, the boss is calling me," the old man said. "I'm sorry that I must attend to her. Anyway, don't worry about those Akatsuki. Even if our village is small, we have a lot of amazing ninjas here. If I were you, I would just enjoy my stay and keep unnecessary worries away from my mind."

"Thank you, oji-san."

"Later!"

Naruto smiled at Shizune. "Information."

"That was nice acting," Shizune said.

Naruto shrugged. "I did this before. Let's go."

Naruto suddenly held Shizune's right hand. Shizune was surprised.

"What's the big idea?" Shizune asked.

Naruto smiled. "Men always initiate these things, right?" He abruptly felt something from behind. He tensed up. Shizune noticed this.

"What's the problem?"

"Someone is following us. Stay put."

Naruto pulled Shizune to him and kissed her. Using the act as cover, he shot a sideway glance over his shoulder. A shadow hid from his sight. He broke the kiss and pretended that it was just a sign of affection. He smiled at Shizune.

"Did you see him?"

"No. But someone was really there. We can't let our guard down." A beat. "You're blushing."

Shizune pinched his side and looked at him, evilly. "Be thankful that I let you live, asshole."

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry."

Shizune let go. "Hmph! We had better find a place to stay for the night."

…

Naruto found a decent looking inn at the eastside of the village. The place was definitely ancient with the stone carvings and antique paintings on the wall. As he and Shizune stood in the doorway, an old lady of about seventy greeted them.

"Are you a couple? I'm sorry because we only have one room left," the old lady said.

"We are a couple and we are taking the room," Naruto said.

"You seem to be too young to be this pretty lady's husband."

Shizune was miffed with the old lady's tone.

"No. We really are a couple. Besides, I'm already eighteen."

"Is it? I'm too old to be fooled, young man," the old lady said. "But, if you would indulge me with a true love's kiss, I might change my opinion about you."

"You're so naughty, oba-san." Naruto was grinning. "But I think there's no problem with that."

The old lady smiled. Naruto held Shizune by the waist, to her surprise, and gave her a deep kiss. Shizune couldn't help but close her eyes. The old lady squealed in excitement. Naruto lovingly stared at Shizune after the kiss. Shizune didn't miss that look in his eyes. She blinked in disbelief.

The old lady was blushing. "Thank you very much. I was reminded of my dead husband because of that." She cackled. "Follow me."

…

The old lady showed them the room. It was not that big, but also not that small. There was a pair of futon on the floor laid side by side, two pillows, and a large blanket. The sliding door leading to the porch was open to let the night air enter.

The old lady said, "The bathroom is downstairs and the hot springs are open all night. It's gender-free so you can bathe together. Have a sweet night, you two."

"Thank you for your hospitality," Naruto said.

"Just look for me if you have questions."

The old lady slid the entrance door close. Naruto instantly felt a dark aura emanating from Shizune once they were left alone.

Naruto laughed nervously. "What do you think of the room?"

"Did you really have to do that?" Shizune was grim.

Naruto flinched. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It was necessary! Don't kill me, please!"

Shizune smacked him with her fist. He ended up with a large knot on top of his head.

"Ow..." Naruto groaned.

Shizune said, "I think that you could have just talked it out with the old lady since you are so good at lying. I'll take a bath. You stay here."

"What? You should not go alone. It's very dangerous."

"I can take care of myself."

"But—" Shizune glared at him with murderous intent. "I understand."

"Hmph!"

After taking a bath, Shizune arrived on Naruto pacing the room. She was touched by what he was doing. He really cared about her.

"Stop that. It's annoying," she said.

Naruto jerked his head towards her. He stared at her for a moment and sighed. They didn't move for a time. Shizune was looking at the futon. Naruto was looking at the ceiling.

"So...what is our sleeping arrangement?"

"Since you've shown your true perverted self, we're going to separate the futons. I'll sleep at this side. You sleep at that side."

"But what if the old lady suddenly comes in and arrives on us like that?"

"Lie to her. You're good at it, aren't you?"

"Shizune-san, look. You told me that we needed to establish connection. You told me that we should support each other. You even told me that you would be my temporary girlfriend. What's happening with you, now?"

"I didn't expect that you would be this...unpredictable. You always caught me off-guard. I didn't have time to prepare myself. You just did this and did that without asking for my consent first. You scare me."

"Wasn't that the plan? To act as natural as possible? Where would you see a husband asking permission for a kiss from his wife?"

"It's affecting me a great deal, Naruto. You can't imagine how much."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Shizune didn't answer. He sighed.

"I'm sorry if I did that to you," he told her. "Okay, let's do this. From now on, you take care of our little act and I focus on surveillance. How's that?" Shizune frowned at him. "I mean, you initiate everything. Kisses, holding hands, hugs, everything." Shizune was still frowning. "You don't like that?"

"I think that's a good idea." And, as if to gain some pride she thought she had lost, she added, "But we're still sleeping apart!"

"Shush. You're voice is too loud. What if the old lady overhears us?" He paused and looked at the wall for a moment. Then he looked back at her straight in the eyes. "Shizune-san, all I'm asking from you is a little faith. Do you really think that I'll take advantage of you just because I have every opportunity to do that in this mission? Please trust me even a little. We're a team."

Shizune just looked at him. She then went to the futon and slid under the blanket.

Naruto frowned. "Aren't we sleeping apart?"

"I'm tired. I don't want to concern myself with trivialities."

Naruto stared at her with disbelief. _Man, women are so complicated. _He shook his head and, after watching her for a moment, he went back to business. _Anyway, it's a bad idea if we both sleep in this situation, especially after I've confirmed that someone is following us. I had better stay up and guard her._

And that was what he did.

Naruto had been sitting beside his futon for hours. It was nearly dawn now. He was watching Shizune's face as she slept without a care in the world. Suddenly, Shizune sat up and opened her eyes. He was surprised. Shizune looked around. When she found Naruto, she embraced him.

"Papa, don't leave us. Please, stay. Don't leave Mama and me," she mumbled.

Naruto gaped. _She's talking in her sleep!_

"Papa..."

Naruto hugged her. "I'll never leave you. I'll always be here."

Shizune smiled, satisfied.

That was surprising. Naruto hadn't thought that Shizune had a secret like that. But it didn't last long, his surprise. He knew best how lonely it felt growing up without parents. Also, he had had a better situation because he had lost his parents when he was born. Imagine someone taking your parents away from you or leaving after you had learned to love them. It would be very painful to accept. The pain would definitely seek a way out if it had been really unbearable. Shizune's pain came out in her dreams.

He let the embrace last for a while until he was sure that Shizune was already sound asleep. He carefully laid her back on the futon, got up, and went to catch some fresh wind out on the porch.

…

The roosters crowed to signal the coming of a new day.

Shizune opened her eyes, sat up, stretched, and yawned. She noticed that Naruto was sitting beside his futon. He seemed fighting to maintain his sitting posture. There were dark circles around his eyes. His eyelids fluttered in drowsiness. She suddenly noticed her open robe and her exposed cleavage. She thought that Naruto had stayed up to watch her. Who knew what he had seen. She hurriedly fixed her robe, reached out, and slapped Naruto.

"Pervert!"

Naruto started. "Pervert? Where? Where?"

"What are you doing sitting there all night?"

Naruto sighed in relief. "I thought there really was someone."

"Did you see? Did you see? You took advantage of me while I was asleep, didn't you?"

"What? No! I stayed up because I was worried someone might attack us while we slept." He rubbed the red patch on his cheek. "That hurts."

Shizune blushed and smiled apologetically. "Is that so? I'm sorry. I thought...I'm sorry." She realized something. "Wait! If you stayed up all night, that means you saw me..."

"Ah, that. Don't worry, I understand that you don't want other people to know. I promise that I'll die not telling that to anyone. Trust me."

"Please, please. I really don't want other people to know. I'd rather run naked across Konoha than let someone know about it." A beat. "I mean, if I have no other choice."

"You were talking about your parents."

"I don't want to talk about it. I don't remember the details anyway. Master Tsunade picked me up from the street. She has been my parent ever since. I just developed that habit out of the blue. One day, Master Tsunade was laughing at me after she had witnessed me talking in my sleep. I never succeeded in getting rid of that habit."

"You should only get rid of a habit if it is bad. Besides, talking about your parents in your sleep only proves how much you loved them."

Now who's older, she thought. Most kids his age often make fun of other people's quirks and habits. But, Naruto was different. He was sensitive. He knew what other people needed, how other people wanted to be treated. Shizune looked at him in a new light. She smiled. "Thank you, Naruto."

Naruto yawned. "Let's go down and grab something to eat."

She let go of her robe. The move exposed her cleavage again. When she looked up to see how Naruto would react, she found that Naruto was already sleeping. She shook her head and laid him down on the futon. _If you keep being like that with me, I might actually fall in love with you._

She had already. She just didn't know, yet.

…

They continued their surveillance in the village, but, unfortunately, they couldn't find any lead. The people just simply knew it as a rumor. No one had actually seen the Akatsuki in the village.

It was afternoon when Naruto and Shizune went back to the inn. They entered their room with a look of disappointment on their faces.

"We have been surveying the village for two days, but there's still no concrete information regarding Akatsuki. Could it be that Konoha had been misled?" Naruto said.

"I don't know. Maybe that spy last time had already told them about us."

"If that was true, why haven't they attacked us, yet?"

Suddenly, a chain shot into the porch's sliding door and wound around Shizune's body. In the blink of an eye, the chain retracted and pulled Shizune into the sliding door, destroying it. The chain continued to retract, pulling Shizune along with it, until a hand grabbed the chains across Shizune's back in midair. Shizune was unconscious now. Naruto ran outside and saw Madara standing on top of a post.

"Madara!" Naruto blurted out. He frowned. Was this really Madara? Something about him was not right.

"Oh, if it isn't Naruto-kun! How are you?" Madara said.

"Put Shizune-san down!"

"No. I want you to know what I do to nosy people like you. You should have just let us alone. We are doing business here. Do you know why this place is thriving with tourists? That's because we are protecting the village from bandits and criminals. This is a mutual understanding between the Akatsuki and the village."

"We will leave! Please, just spare Shizune-san."

"It's too late. You should have regretted going here in the first place."

Shizune opened her eyes. "Madara!"

"Hi, sweetie! How are you?"

"Put me down, you pervert!"

"I don't want to do that, sweetheart. Ah, I know. What about this? Naruto-kun, let's have a trade. If you give up yourself to us, I'll let her go. How does it sound?"

Shizune was horrified. "No! Naruto, don't listen to him! He will not keep his words!"

"What do you think? Is this woman worth dying for?" Madara said.

"Naruto, listen," Shizune said. "Your life is ten times more important than mine. Please, think carefully. If you die here, Konoha might lose in the war. Forget about me and escape!"

"The damsel in distress has said her speech. What do you think?"

"All right. Let her go," Naruto said.

"Oh, you really are an idiot. You'll give your life to a useless bitch like her?"

"Don't talk that way about Shizune-san! She's very important to me. Now, let her go. If you hurt her in anyway, I'll promise you that you'll suffer in my hands."

"Naruto..." Shizune whispered. She didn't know what feeling to entertain first: joy at Naruto's concern for her or fear at Naruto's impending demise. Her heart was hurting in her chest. Out of place but she couldn't help it. The element she had been waiting for had just come: how he valued her. Basing it to his action just now, there was no mistaking it that he deemed her very important. Worth dying for in this villain's words.

With a jolt it came. Her heart answered back. When did it start, she didn't know or care. Only the truth mattered. She loved him.

Madara got intimidated by Naruto's stare. "Blah, blah, blah. You have a way with words. Fine."

Madara raised his free hand and a chain shot out his sleeve. It wound around Naruto's body. Madara let go of Shizune and she fell to the ground.

"Now come here and die!" Madara yelled.

Madara flicked his wrist and the chain retracted, pulling Naruto along with it. Madara snapped his free arm and a kunai sprung into his hand. As Naruto came, he plunged the kunai, aiming at Naruto's throat. When the tip was about to touch Naruto's skin, a bright ball of electricity shot out from Madara's chest which stopped his movements at once. He couldn't help but let go of Naruto. Naruto crashed to the ground.

"So, you're the fake Madara who has been using our name to plunder for money," an ominous voice said.

"This voice...Uchiha Sasuke?" the impostor said.

"Die."

Sasuke grabbed the impostor's heart and crushed it. He let go of the corpse and looked down at Naruto.

"I see that you're still a fool who will throw away your life for your friends," Sasuke said. The wind tossed his dark hair. His stare was cold and piercing. The Sharingan made it more awful.

"Sasuke..." Naruto muttered.

"I can kill you here and now, but it will be just a waste of time. Don't think that you can already go against me at your current level." After saying that, Sasuke disappeared.

"Sasuke, wait! Sasuke!" It was no use. "Shit." Naruto hurriedly broke out from the chain and ran to Shizune. He helped Shizune out of the chain around her. She was crying. "Shizune-san? Are you all right?"

"You fool! Why are you so dumb? For goodness sake, you could have been killed!"

"I'm sorry."

"I was so worried about you. I thought that I'll never see you again."

"I'm sorry."

"Damn it! Loving an idiot like you is giving me a hard time."

Naruto was taken aback. "Huh?"

Shizune stood up and wiped her tears. Naruto stood behind her.

"Shizune-san, what did you say?" Naruto asked.

Shizune abruptly turned around and planted a loud kiss on his lips. Naruto blinked at that.

"That's for saving me. Now, let's go home. I have enough of this foolishness."

As Naruto composed himself, he felt a murderous intent aimed at him. He looked around and saw Momoko glaring on top of the fence.

"You asshole! You unfaithful son of a bitch! I followed you here all the way from Konoha and this is what you will show me! I'm gonna kill you!"

"Hey, wait! What unfaithful? You are just misunderstanding things!"

"Too late! I just saw you kiss Shizune-san! Prepare yourself, you pervert!"

"Wait! That's a part of our cover! Help me, Shizune-san!"

"You're not going to get away from me!"

Naruto ran away with all his might, shouting for help to anyone who might hear.

….

Tsunade was wide eyed after hearing the story.

"He thought that I was still acting, then," Shizune said, looking into the distance. "I took advantage of that and kept my feelings from him. So, when he asked me out, I shunned his advance. Now, I regret it. I should've gone with him. He was honestly infatuated with me. I could see it in his eyes."

"I didn't have the vaguest idea that Naruto had a crush on you."

"Surprise, surprise." And she giggled. "What do you think? Could it have worked between us?"

"He made you fall in love with him. If you gave him a chance, then, I think it could have."

Shizune began to cry. "He was so gentle and sensitive and caring. He was like a dream. I was so touched when he threw away his life to save mine. Nobody has ever done it for me. Nobody."

"Everyone will miss him so much."

Now, Shizune was crying even louder. "I loved him, Master. I loved him very much."

Tsunade knew that no words would quench the sadness of her apprentice. All she could do was listen to Shizune as she sang the haunting melody of grief. She closed her eyes and endured.

_To be continued…_


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4: The Departure of a Hero

Early that morning of the third day, other countries' representatives arrived at Konoha. It was Naruto's burial day. The preparations had been finished. Tsunade had approved of the casket made of ebony, where Naruto's body would be laid in, to be carried around the village so that every villager could see him off to his final destination. The sky was remarkably clear, without a hint of clouds, a Sailor's Sky. It was on earth that the clouds were around; only that they were in the form only felt, not seen. Every villager wore black. No stores were open. No classes in schools. The day was special.

The villagers were surprised to see the Yukikage, clad in white robe with the character for "Snow" on her hat painted in blue, her eyes a pretty pair of gray, skin as white as the element she represented, manners as soft as a feather. She walked with an entourage of fifty high-class shinobis.

There was also the Tetsukage, leader of the Hagakure, the Hidden Village of Blades, wearing his most expensive black robe sewn with intricate spade patterns around the hems, the character for "Iron" painted in white on his black hat, a man in his sixties possessing a frightening pair of black eyeballs with irises of metal gray, a forged steel mask covering his face in the typical assassin-type design. He ambled with an entourage of twenty samurais and fifteen special ops class shinobis.

These two leaders were the last to arrive. The Kazekage, Gaara, had been in the village since the other day, talking with Naruto in the clear glass when no one could see, whispering promises and admiration to his personal hero that in a sudden had left the living realm.

The Mizukage had arrived two hours ago. She was a beautiful woman in her thirties, a prodigy, beauty and brains. Her blue robe contrasted the grief on her face. Naruto had brought her back on her tracks when she had doubted her effectiveness as Mizukage. Naruto had accepted her eccentric nature of being a maniac for attention, saying to her, "As long as you make yourself shine in ways not offensive to children, your attitude of being greedy for attention will never ruin your reputation. Anyway, it's important to a Mizukage to be popular. I, too, am hungry for attention, but I'm not good as you in getting it. Sometimes I even piss off people because of that."

"But I also want men to pay attention to me," she had replied.

Naruto laughed at her. "They are always paying attention, but you know us men. Most of us just keep it secret."

"Do you find me attractive, Naruto?"

Naruto scratched at his cheek for an itch only existent when he was shy. He looked away. "You…you could say that."

She suddenly kissed him on the cheek, stood up, and faced Naruto with regal authority. "Now, shinobi of Konoha, have a safe trip home. I…Please, visit me sometime, okay. I really enjoyed our conversations."

She hadn't expected that it would be the last conversation she would ever make with the man she owed her resolve from. She had cried inside her room provided by Tsunade after seeing him in the cold glass.

The Raikage had the smallest entourage. The large old man with a white goatee and spear-shaped moustache had only his brother Killer Bee and four other shinobis with him. Not that it would make a difference in their security. He and his brother were strong enough to take care of everything. Besides, being in Konoha, they knew that they were safe, not to mention the truce which had already taken effect.

Last night, Killer Bee had stood for twenty minutes in front of Naruto, just staring at him. When he was about to leave, he put his right hand over the glass directly above Naruto's face. He left one of his seven swords beside the glass encasement and went back to his room. For him, Naruto had been a brother, a disciple, and a friend. Naruto was the only other Jinchuriki—container—that was able to control the massive evil chakra in him. In that aspect, they had had a strong bond. He would treasure that bond forever.

One of the three leaders that had cried after seeing Naruto—the Mizukage and the Kazekage were the other ones—was the Tsuchikage, the short old man with a severe disposition. The moment he arrived, limping to the encasement, supported by two of his personal nurses, his big nose crinkled and clear snot came out. Then, without caring for reputation or shame, he sobbed. "Among the children I spent a little time in my life, the boy with the head of the sun and eyes of the sky was the only one who so courageously revived the person I was born as. I had forgotten who I was and led a life of severity and perfection. He came and reacquainted me to the child I had been once—the clumsy, no-good child who only thought of making his dream come true," he had told Tsunade. "I consider him my grandson. I love him and will miss him. I thank Konoha for giving me the chance to share a part of my life with an amazing boy." Tsunade knelt down and embraced him, telling him that she understood.

The ceremony started at nine of the clock. There had been a small dispute over the selection of the people who would carry the casket. In the end, Tsunade had given Sakura, as Naruto's closest friend, the authority to select. She had selected Shikamaru of the Nara Clan, Neji of the Hyuuga Clan, Kiba of the Inuzuka Clan, Sai, a former root ANBU and a friend, Umino Iruka, Naruto's first trusted teacher, Rock Lee, a rival, Yamato, the substitute handler of Team Kakashi, and lastly Kakashi, who had watched over Naruto as a teacher and as a father.

A young priestess led the procession. She carried Naruto's forehead protector on a pillow. Two ANBUs held up the Konohagakure's flag with the swirling leaf emblem and the flag of the Land of Fire behind her. Then, it was Naruto's casket. The seven Kages were in two neat lines behind his casket. After them were Naruto's loving friends and the villagers.

The first step was signaled by a loud beat from the drums, and then music filled the quiet air. It was the same music used in the procession for Chiyo, an elder of Sunagakure. The sad melody started with slow notes that aimed for the sadness, but also gave the feeling of longing, and a wish for the departing to have a safe journey. Smooth as water with seamless transitions, the notes reached the ears of every people present in the event. Like a hand it gripped the heart, like a blade it cut the soul, and like the sky it lit the mind, stirred memories, pulling them out one by one from the subconscious. With the song in the air, the emotions couldn't be contained. Faces gleamed with tears and breaths rang with quiet whimpers of grief.

Naruto's casket was placed at the center of the court in front of the Phoenix Temple just below the sculpted faces of the Hokages in the mountain. The Twelve Great Monks of Konoha, old and sagely in their appearance, clad in their red robes with large sandalwood beads around their necks, formed a large C in front of the casket and began to pray. The serene eyes of the people below the platform watched. The hums from each of the monks blending in a baritone that was good to hear were discarded by ears. They were thinking of Naruto. What the monks were doing was for them just a formality. The most important was the impending departure of Naruto's body into the darkness of the earth. Somehow they had identical urges to flee so that they would be spared from the pain of watching helplessly as their hero's body was being lowered into the ground. However, they knew that they wouldn't flee, be there that urge or not. Until the last, they would be with Naruto. At least, wherever he was, he would think that they loved him as he had loved them. At least, they could do what they could not when he was still alive. This was their last chance to show their appreciation. They would give him what he had always wanted: _to be acknowledged by the whole village._

…

The burial was a solemn event.

…

The next morning, Sakura woke up with tears in her eyes. She had dreamed of Naruto. Her mother had let her sleep without demanding anything from her like eat or take a bath. She thought her love for her mother had increased because of that.

She rotated her head towards her lamp table and reached out for the framed picture of Team Kakashi. Now, she was all alone. Sasuke had been the first to disappear from her life. Now, it was Naruto. She wondered how she could endure another morning with only herself as companion. Thinking about it, she had relied on Naruto too much that she hadn't thought of what she would do when the time came that she had to fend for herself. She missed him, already. Usually, she would be at the window early in the morning, waiting for Naruto who regularly jogged around the village. Every morning as he passed by her house, he would shout, "If you sleep too much, you'll get fat!" not knowing that she secretly waited for him to pass by. It had been a routine. And now, that sweet, little ritual would never happen again.

She got out of bed and washed her face. In the kitchen, she arrived on her mother unconsciously stirring her coffee, looking out of the window. She found it strange to see her mother like that.

"Mom?"

Mrs. Haruno looked at her, trying to give a small smile. "Hi, honey! Good morning!"

"You could have said that more energetically." She sat beside her mother.

"How are you?"

Sakura put her hand over her mother's. "Mom, I'm okay. Honest. I'm a little bit sad, but I'm okay. Don't worry about me."

Mom nodded. "If you say so. What do you want to eat?"

She finally realized that her mother hadn't made breakfast, yet, unlike the usual. "Anything, I guess. A hot chocolate for starters."

"Okay. I'll make something for you." Mrs. Haruno stood up. She went to make Sakura a cup of hot chocolate. Once finished, she put the frying pan on the stove and fried some bacon and eggs. Sakura sipped her chocolate quietly, watching the clouds roll by outside. Mrs. Haruno set the plate with the eggs and bacon on the table. "I'll cook some rice. Could you wait a little while?"

As her mother went to wash the rice cooker, Sakura said, "It's all right, Mom. I'll settle for bread. We have some, right?"

"I think there are leftovers from last night. But, is it really all right?"

"It's fine."

Mrs. Haruno heated the bread in the oven and brought it to the table. Both of them began to eat.

Sakura stood up after she had finished two breads. "I should be going now, Mom."

"It's still too early."

"I will drop by Naruto's grave before going to the hospital."

"I see. Take care, then."

"Thanks, Mom. I love you."

After taking a bath, Sakura was on her way.

…

Naruto's grave was at the center of a patch of land in front of the Phoenix Temple. The grave was marked by a small obelisk erected at the center, surrounded on the ground by white blocks of sediment arranged in a circular pattern. The patch of land was fenced with wrought iron coated with melted brass, and now the sun glinted on the metal fence, making it appear like gold.

Sakura was surprised to see Gaara standing in front of the obelisk. Temari and Kankuro stood at the fence, obviously trying to ignore what Gaara was doing.

Gaara noticed her presence. "Sakura-san, good morning to you."

"H-hi. I thought you already left yesterday."

"No. I stayed for another day. It will be a long time before I can visit him again." Gaara produced three sticks of incense, lit them up, and planted them in the jar of sand where few consumed sticks of incense were. "This is my last chance to say my thanks to him."

"This is a little surprising."

Gaara faced her. "Do you still have a grudge against me?"

Sakura blushed under his stare. It was sincere in its intensity. "What do you mean?"

"I did attack Konoha once. Haven't you forgotten it, yet?"

"No. Of course, not!"

"Then why is it surprising for you to see me here?"

"It's just that I've never known that you value Naruto this much."

"Ah. Yes. I'm sorry. I am what I am now because of him. I owe him a lot, Sakura-san. He was my savior." He cast him a meaningful glance. "I take it that you were his girlfriend." It was more of a question.

Sakura's face reddened. "No! I was only his friend!"

"You sound like Temari when confronted with the same question."

Temari threw a rock at him, but his sand floated from his gourd and caught it in midair.

"Stop it before I drag you out of here, you stupid brother!" Temari said.

Off Sakura's confused look, Gaara said, "I see that you can't believe my older sister can treat me like this, now. As I said, Sakura-san, I'm not the same killer I was. I'm now the leader of Sunagakure. I found it fun to tease people around me every now and then. And because it will be a very long time until I am again able to talk with you, I will tell you a little secret. Temari was in love with Naruto and she had cried over him many times."

"Gaara!"

Sakura giggled. Gaara offered her a small smile. "I hope that we can be friends, Sakura-san. I apologize for my cold attitude towards you and the others in the past." He offered his hand.

Sakura took it. "Of course, we can. I promise to visit if I have time."

"I'll not look forward to that. Come, but never promise. You're always welcome anytime. Bring some of your friends and I'll be sure to throw a huge welcoming party."

"All right. Then, I'll not promise, but I'll count on the party."

"Goodbye, Sakura-san." Gaara went to his siblings. Temari pinched his cheek and he uncharacteristically apologized. He gave Sakura a nod before carrying on.

That small conversation with Gaara lightened the burden in her chest. Naruto had accomplished one of his dreams: having faithful friends. Maybe, out there, wherever he was, he was seeing this. She was sure he was happy. Maybe, now, she could accept that no matter what she did, he would never come back. Even if it was painful, she would try.

…

Momoko had been waiting for Tsunade ever since the crack of dawn. She was outside the closed office, crossed arms, and enduring the impatience that so itched her dark skin. The hallway was quiet. Nobody was strolling to and fro, unlike in usual weekdays. Outside, she could see the leaves being ruffled by the wind and the sky was clear.

"Man, when will someone show up?" she muttered, staring with resentment at the stairway leading to the fourth floor. She tried to imagine seeing someone—anyone—coming up and greeting her, and then she sighed. What she was trying to do was childish. "They're so late."

A few seconds after, Shizune showed up, her head bobbing as she ascended the stair. "Momoko-chan?" she said as she approached her.

"Shizune-san!"

"Have you been waiting for Master Tsunade?"

"Yes. Where is she?"

"The question should be if she would show up. She told me that she would not come today. I'm sorry. She wanted to be alone to think through things. What is it that you want from her?"

Momoko was disappointed. "It's nothing, really. I'll just come back tomorrow, then."

"It's not 'nothing,' right? You would not wait like this, if it was. I will tell Master Tsunade if it's really important."

Momoko stared at Shizune for a time. She was debating with herself. "I'm not sure if you will believe me."

"Then you are also not sure if I _won't_ believe. Come on, tell me."

"My instincts have been bothering me ever since last night. It's…it's…I can't tell it, after all."

"You're intriguing me, Momoko-chan. My heart is starting to beat fast in my chest. Is it something like you just discovered the 'Lost Scroll' or 'Mimune's Treasure'?"

"No! Of course, not. It's not like that at all. I can't explain it. It just occurred to me. It's…I don't know how to call it. A hunch, maybe? Premonition? I don't know. But, you know about my clan, right? The general knowledge about our animal instincts? It's that."

"You are scaring me, Momoko. Can't you just tell me what it is?"

"I feel…I feel that Naruto is still alive."

Shizune frowned. "That's not a good joke to start the day, Momoko. Don't go crazy on me this early in the morning. We just held Naruto's burial yesterday."

"I knew you would not believe me. It's too farfetched. But, Shizune-san, I always feel like this whenever there is an incoming storm or an earthquake, a calamity, a dispute…danger. This is the same feeling I get when something terrible is about to happen to me. Shizune-san, right now, I have that same feeling or whatever it is that you might call it. It itches inside of me. I feel that Naruto is still alive."

"But, you saw him, didn't you? I saw him, too, and I couldn't have mistaken him for someone else. Momoko, Naruto is dead. Aren't you just denying that?"

"No. I will not deny that it was him. But still…"

"I know you're still upset with what happened. It's hard for everyone to accept that he is dead, but you should try your best to move on. Momoko, he wouldn't like it if you kept on being like this. Let him go, okay?"

Momoko nodded. "I-I'll try."

"Don't tell this to Master Tsunade. Naruto was like a son to her. Also, she is not like me. She might hurt you if she hears about this."

"I-I understand."

…

In the river beyond the border of the Land of Fire, beyond the border of the shinobi lands, many kilometers away from Konoha, Naruto's body emerged on the surface. The slow current languorously carried him along like a log. Trees surrounded the river on both sides. Mountains surrounded the trees. A herd of five deer drinking from the bank glanced up, intrigued, and watched as the body went by in front of them. Vultures circled above, waiting for the water to take the body to the shore. But, the river seemed to sense the danger and kept Naruto in the center. A school of small fishes swam underneath him like personal guards. An eagle screamed and chased the vultures away. The vultures, cowards as they were, fled from the mighty talons of the king of the skies. The eagle perched itself on a branch and looked down at Naruto. When Naruto went beyond its sight, the eagle would fly to another branch. It was overseeing Naruto's safety. Naruto drifted on the river for another two days.

…

Hiromi sang a song as she swung in rhythm the wooden bucket in her right hand. She was a cute eight year old child with beautiful black hair and big, round eyes. Her voice was like coming from a flute in its clarity and sweetness. It was not a wonder that when she grew up she would be a great singer.

"Little steps, little steps will take me to the stream. Little work, little work will make my momma beam. Little smiles, little smiles will make Hiromi happy. Little this, little that will make Hiromi queen. Nanana, nanana, nanana na na."

She reached the river, put down the bucket, and ran towards the water. Her cute little laugh echoed in the forest as she danced in the shallow part of the river, relishing the cold feeling of wetness on her skirt. She stopped, stooped over, and scooped some water to drink. The clean liquid refreshed her throat. Then she danced again, her errand temporarily forgotten.

The eagle screamed in the sky. Hiromi stopped and looked up. She saw its wide wings that blocked some sunlight, covering her face with shadow. She smiled and mimicked the eagle. The eagle made two complete revolutions above her, and then it disembarked from its path and swooped down towards her. Believing that it was coming for her, she put her small hands over her head and ran towards the shore. But the eagle wasn't aiming for her. It was aiming for a large rock a few meters away. It flapped its huge wings to decrease its speed and perched on top of the rock. As if calling for attention, the eagle screamed again.

Hiromi stayed crouched on the ground for a few moments, trying her best to ignore the eagle. The eagle screamed again, but this time it had a different quality. Her ears that were gifted to differentiate between sounds made her notice that quality. The scream was not hostile. It was like asking for help. Slowly, she turned her head towards the eagle. The eagle screamed again and flapped its great wings as if beckoning her. Tentatively, she stood up. She stared at the eagle and noticed the body.

Now, it was clear to her what the eagle wanted from her. She ran towards the body. She didn't know why she was not scared. At a glance, the body looked dead. She reached out for the body's neck and felt for a pulse. At first there was nothing, she was sure of it, but all of a sudden there it was, strong and very much alive. She felt relieved over that small accomplishment even though it was the man who had done it himself. The man was strong, she decided. For the eagle to do something like seeking for help for him, he must be a great man from somewhere.

She turned the body over and lowered her cheek to feel his breathing. He was breathing, but it was weak, a feather against her skin. She put her ear over his chest. His heart was beating, but it was also weak. She inspected him. He didn't seem to have any injuries. She frowned. Could it be that he was a sailor? His ship had sunk because of a storm and the river had taken him here. She hit her head. Her imagination was kicking in again. She didn't need it now. Then she noticed the crystal amulet on the ground beside his neck. It was sparkling as if a piece of heaven had been torn and placed inside the crystal. The dust of light that moved inside the amulet mesmerized her eyes. She held it on her palm and looked at it closely. Abruptly, a crazy idea occurred to her. She gasped.

"He must be a prince!" she said. She put the amulet inside his jacket and looked up at the eagle. "Mister Eagle, could you guard him for a little longer? I'm gonna get some help." The eagle screeched in response. It was too loud she had to cover her ears. "Thank you." She stood up and ran up the path back to her home.

_To be continued…_


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5: The Summoned Wolf Kinjo

A white wolf had been watching Naruto in the shadows. He could not go near—or was more afraid to go near—because the eagle who had robbed him one of his eyes was guarding Naruto. He paced behind the thick bushes. The little girl had gone for help and any time soon help would come. He needed to act now. But, how? That eagle was a formidable opponent.

"Kinjo, what are you doing here?" It was another wolf.

"Bakuryu. Look at that rock."

Bakuryu squinted through the bushes. "A boy. Are you thinking of eating him? We are not allowed to eat human beings, Kinjo."

"I know that. But can't you smell something from him?"

"What do you mean? He smells of flesh, that's all."

"Can't you smell it?"

Bakuryu looked at him. "No."

"He smells of Myobukuzan, the Village of Toads."

Bakuryu sniffed again. "My nose is not that sharp. All I can smell from him is the river."

"We need to get him. I think he is a shinobi."

"Why didn't you say so? Come on!"

"Wait! Yuudai is with him."

Bakuryu took a step back. "Yuudai?" He glanced up at the eagle.

"He has been guarding the boy."

"I'll call the pack." Bakuryu loped into the forest. He brought twenty-two wolves with him.

"Oh, a boy! So you are finally coming to your senses, Kinjo-sama! He looks tasty," a wolf said.

"He is not food," Kinjo said.

"Then what is he?"

"The air of Myobukuzan is on his skin. He might be a shinobi."

"Really? Then let's get him!"

"Cujo, he is with Yuudai. It will not be easy."

Suddenly, the eagle screamed twice. The wolves jerked their heads toward it.

"He is calling for help. He might have already sensed us," Bakuryu said. "Kinjo, we should move now!"

"Okay. Come on!" Kinjo replied. He led the pack towards the shore.

Upon seeing them, Yuudai spread his wings and screamed. The wolves fanned out in front of the eagle. They were growling, baring their fangs, but cautiously inching forward.

"I'll snatch the boy," Kinjo said. "You distract Yuudai."

Bakuryu nodded at Kinjo, then at Cujo. They made two subgroups and moved from both sides of the eagle. Bakuryu, Kinjo, and Cujo exchanged meaningful glances, and then they began the attack. The thunder of paws echoed around, shaking the ground. The wolves opened their mouths. Two wolves leaped toward the eagle, but before they could reach it, two other eagles caught them in midair, carried them up, and dropped them dead to the ground. The two eagles circled above. Six more eagles joined in. After a few seconds, twelve hawks arrived and screamed, swooping above the heads of the wolves. The wolves backed off.

"What are we going to do now, Kinjo?" Bakuryu asked.

"I can't pass up this chance. We have been here for twenty-six years, Bakuryu. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity." Kinjo set aside his fear and sprinted forward. The birds of prey one by one disengaged from the flock and dropped down like meteors.

"Kinjo! Everyone! Don't just stand there! Protect Kinjo!" Led by Bakuryu, the wolves did their best to catch up to Kinjo. But the birds bested them. Armed with strong talons and the advantage of flight, the eagles and the hawks felled them one by one. They desperately fought by attempting to snap at the birds' talons that held the pelts on their backs, but it was useless. The birds knew where to take hold.

Kinjo had nothing on his mind but to get to Naruto. He ignored the whimpers of his pack and trudged on. A hawk aimed at him, swooping down with talons spread like blades. Kinjo timed the coming of the hawk. As they were about to collide, Kinjo swerved to his right and abruptly twisted to his left. He grabbed the hawk out of the air by his mouth and broke its neck. Yuudai, seeing a chance, flew towards Kinjo.

"Kinjo! Yuudai is coming! Watch out!" Bakuryu cried.

Kinjo looked with alarm at the eagle. However, before Yuudai could reach him, a fast object sliced through the air. It hit the pebbles. It was a dart. Yuudai flapped its wings and changed direction. It was an opportunity, and Kinjo didn't let it pass. He loped towards Naruto.

A young girl shrieked.

Kinjo was about to snatch Naruto when a powerful force pushed him sideways. Kinjo stood up. He growled at the man standing next to the rock. The man had a lean body and short, dark hair. He also had a well-trimmed goatee. His arm was extended in front of him. He was confidently grinning.

"Tsuneo…" Kinjo said. "What are you doing here?"

"This boy is Hiromi's prince. I'll not let you lay your filthy paws on him." Another dart flew from nowhere, but Tsuneo easily caught it with his left hand. "Setsuko is also here, I see."

Hiromi reached Naruto. Immediately, she inspected him. She sighed. "They haven't touched him, yet, Father." She glared at Kinjo. "Go away, Kinjo. Onii-san is not food."

"Just give him up to us, Tsuneo, and nobody's gonna be hurt," Kinjo said.

"Over our dead bodies!" Hiromi hugged Naruto's head.

"It's just what my daughter says, Kinjo. I don't want to fight you."

"Then, it's no use talking." Kinjo dashed forward with murder in his remaining good eye. He meant to kill Tsuneo.

Tsuneo grinned, excitedly.

Suddenly, a shrill whistle cut through the air. The wolves, including Kinjo, stopped on their tracks.

"You don't stand a chance against him, Father! Fall back!" a woman yelled.

Kinjo snarled in disgust. "We're not finished, yet, Tsuneo. We'll get the boy, whether you like it or not." To his pack, he said, "We're retreating!" He stared at Tsuneo. "Remember this, Tsuneo."

"I'm sorry," was all Tsuneo could say.

The wolves retreated into the forest.

Yuudai perched on the rock and screamed as if to greet Hiromi and Tsuneo.

"Thank you, Mister Eagle," Hiromi said, smiling. "Thank you for taking care of him."

Yuudai screeched and flapped his wings.

"Hiromi, this is Yuudai," Tsuneo said. "He is the guardian of the forest."

"Yuudai? Is that his name?"

"Yes." He turned and looked down at Naruto. His expression was blank. "It will be dangerous for him to stay here."

"You said it, Dad. Even Kinjo wanted to eat him."

"Yes. Fetch some water, Hiromi."

…

Tsuneo was now sitting on the porch of his house, smoking his pipe. He had taken Naruto inside the guest room. Hiromi had stayed to take care of him. His house was not that big, but it had a large dojo. It stood alone in the center of the bamboo forest. The town was kilometers away, and he would only go down once every month.

"Honey, here's some tea," Saki said. She was an elegant-looking woman despite of her simple taste of clothing. Her skin was smooth and white, and she had a lovely smile that won the hearts of those who were graced to see it. She always wore her black hair in a cascade.

"Thank you, dear," Tsuneo said.

Saki sat beside him. "Are you thinking about the boy?"

"Yes. I'm thinking why Kinjo would interest himself in him."

"Hiromi was saying that Kinjo wanted to eat the boy."

"You know Kinjo, honey. He would never do that. Even if he was already starving, he'd rather die than eat a human being."

"Hmmm…what if he just wanted to give him to Setsuko," she said, smiling slyly. "I mean, the boy is cute. Setsuko will love him for sure."

Tsuneo looked at her, incredulously. "Are you aware of what you're saying?"

She giggled. "Of course, I do."

He shook his head. "Setsuko will kill him. It's just plain impossible. Did Hiromi tell you that Yuudai was guarding the boy?"

"Yuudai? That's a surprise. Could the boy be a king in some far away kingdom?"

"You know what, with your rich imagination, you should be a writer. Yuudai is a wise creature. He can see things our eyes easily miss. What do you think? Maybe this boy was sent by heaven to finally open the doors to our country."

"Who should be the writer? Let's not make conclusions. After the boy has woken up, he can clear things for us."

Tsuneo sighed through his nose.

Saki stood up. "Okay, then. I'll leave you to yourself. Drink the tea. It's getting cold."

Tsuneo smiled. "Thanks."

…

Kinjo lay on top of a smooth precipice inside the cave, his snout resting on top of his front paws. Drops of water dripped from the stalactites above, sending a monotone of familiar notes all throughout the cave.

Bakuryu leaped up from below and stood beside him. "We lost six wolves. The others are seriously injured."

"I'm sorry. It was my fault."

Bakuryu lay down beside Kinjo. "No one is blaming you. Kinjo, do you really think that the boy is a shinobi?"

"When I got near him, I confirmed it. I was not imagining things."

"Father," a woman called out from below. Bakuryu and Kinjo stood up.

"Setsuko," Kinjo said.

A striking young woman, dressed in a wolf hide, leaped from the ground, landed on a rock, and leaped up again, landing on the precipice where Kinjo was. She had sun-bleached, shoulder-length hair that hadn't known a brush before, cut ruggedly by a sharpened bone. She was eighteen years old. Her face was small, and everything in it was cute, especially her nose and lips. Her eyes were brown like wood. Above them were a thick set of eyebrows, not bushy, but thick enough to make her look slightly masculine.

"Why did you do that?" Setsuko said, seething. "You know how dangerous it is to go against Yuudai and that old man. Are you really that desperate for food? What's happening to you?"

"I'm sorry, Setsuko."

Setsuko slumped down on the precipice. "Tell me why you did that."

"I just want to give you a man."

Setsuko blushed despite of herself. "Be serious, you old wolf!"

"I'm serious."

"Why do you always keep things from me in spite of my position? Am I the Alpha for nothing? If I wasn't there, you could have been beaten up by Tsuneo-ojisan."

Kinjo approached Setsuko and licked her cheek. He curled around her. Bakuryu, sensing that he was not needed there, jumped off from the precipice. "Setsuko, if ever I get the chance to go back to my village, will you come with me?"

Setsuko hugged her knees. "I'll come with you, Father. But…"

"I won't take you."

"What?" She turned around and looked at Kinjo.

"My world is a fearsome world. No ordinary human can live there for three hours. Besides, you had a 'but' there. Why don't you go back to Tsuneo? He is a kind man. He took care of you before you chose to go with my pack."

"I hate that old geezer. He was overprotective. I couldn't breathe in his house. He didn't give me much freedom."

Kinjo laughed. The sound bounced repeatedly off the cave walls. "But she treated you like his daughter."

"I know that. But, you are the one who saved my life when I was just a baby. I could have died if not for you. Besides, I can do what I want here." Silence. "Do you really mean to go back?"

"I have my family waiting for me over there. Setsuko, this place makes me old five times faster. Did you see how those birds harassed us as if we were rats? I've weakened. I'm not the same summoned wolf I was."

Setsuko thought for a few moments. "You are thinking to nab that stranger, because you believe that he can help you."

Kinjo looked at her daughter. "Yes. I believe that he can summon me back."

"How will you do it? Tsuneo-ojisan has taken the stranger with him. His family is strong."

"We need to use number, Setsuko. That's the only way."

"Why don't you just talk with him? Tell him what you want with the stranger. It's safer."

"He is not the type of man to give up the life of a human being."

"But you're not going to hurt the stranger!"

"He won't understand. Setsuko, we don't have a close relationship. He doesn't trust me."

"But, why? You were friends!"

"I don't remember being friends with him."

"But you were talking with each other."

"We are acquaintances. That's all. And I owe him for taking care of you."

"I don't understand."

"Adult business. It's complicated."

Setsuko let some seconds pass before speaking again. "Do you really want to go that badly?"

"Yes, Setsuko."

"Nothing can change your mind?"

Kinjo put his head against Setsuko's. "I'm sorry, Setsuko, but I have to. This is a chance in a lifetime. I may never have the same opportunity again."

Setsuko hugged Kinjo's neck. "I don't want to lose you."

"You will not lose me. I'm a summoning beast. Be friends with the person that will summon me back, and, if he allows it, you may see me whenever you want."

"Is that true?"

"Yes."

Setsuko kept her face buried in Kinjo's fur for a long time. Then she stood up and went to the edge of the precipice. "Bakuryu! Come here!"

Bakuryu sat below the precipice. "Setsuko-sama."

"Gather everyone. I want everyone to be here by tomorrow afternoon."

"Yes, Setsuko-sama."

"I'm counting on you, Bakuryu."

…

Midori had just finished her routine training. As she walked down the hallway going to the house proper, the wooden butt of her lance, the Crescent Moon, clucked with every step she made. She was a pearl. Her jet-black hair, which reflected the sun, tied in a ponytail, bobbed as she crossed the wide floor of the dojo. She was white like snow, but her skin had a splash of pink, and now, because of the blood that rushed through her veins because of exertion, it was more noticeable. Her hands, even though calloused and overworked, still possessed the tapered shape of feminine gentleness, and she always kept her nails short and clean. She had a tiny waist, and her breasts were full despite her age of only seventeen years. Her eyes were a lovely pair of green, flecked with hazel. Her nose had a symmetrical shape, almost as if sculpted, and her lips the reddest of their kind. But the most mesmerizing feature she had was not anything said above. It was the dimples on her cheeks, the area just below the eyes. When she smiled, they appeared and struck every hearts with thunder.

She met Tsuneo as the latter turned from the corner going to the porch. She smiled at him, showing her perfect set of white teeth.

"Hi, Dad!"

"Midori. Finished already? I was just going to watch you train."

"I skipped the fifth dance. I suddenly got hungry."

"Eat then." He called out to Saki, "Honey! Little Midori is starving! Kill one bear!"

"Daddy!"

Tsuneo laughed. "I wanted to spar with you a little."

"Sorry, Dad. I'm already out of the mood. Next time, I guess."

"Sure. See you later, then."

"Okay." Midori went in the direction of the guest room.

Tsuneo stopped as if remembering something, and then shrugged. "Oh, well. Must be my imagination." He thought that Midori was going to her room. He forgot that Midori had a silly sense of direction and easily got lost even around the house.

…

The guest room had the same size as her room, so she didn't notice the difference. She looked around for his lance's encasement and frowned when she didn't find it. "My, my. Hiromi must have hidden it somewhere. That kid. Really!" She set down her lance on the floor. "Sorry, sis. I'll get you to your bed later. Right now, I'm really starving," she said to her lance. She turned to go, but she noticed the futon in the center of the room. "No, no! I promise to rid myself of this habit." She looked away and stepped out. She couldn't leave. "No, no, no! You can do it! Determination!" She really couldn't. "Oh, brother. Okay. But just a little bit." She headed back to the futon and literally dived onto it. She hugged the hump in the blanket, believing that it was just some pillows. "It feels so good when I'm in bed. Might as well take a short nap. I don't smell anyway. Don't need to shower." She slid underneath the blanket and hugged whatever was the lump beside her. She huddled her face into it.

A minute and a second later, she realized that what was beside her was not a bunch of pillows. She suddenly opened her eyes. _It_ was a _man_. _A man!_ She screamed so loud the house seemed to tremble.

_To be continued…_


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6: The Beautiful Tomboy

Midori got out of the futon and picked up her lance. "You! I'm gonna kill you!" She leaped up, twirled the lance over her head, and plunged it down towards Naruto. The blade pierced the air. "Die!"

The blade went through something, but the speed in which that something had appeared made Midori realize it too late. Her blade had grazed Tsuneo's thigh. He was holding her wrists and kneeling on his right knee, blood dripping from the wound on his left thigh. He was grinning.

"That was fast, Midori," Tsuneo said, "and very powerful."

"Father!"

"Midori! Honey! What are you doing?" Saki said, coming in from the door. "That's a deep wound, honey! Let's get that cleaned up. Put pressure on it. I'll go get my things." She rushed out of the room.

Midori slumped down and burst into tears. "I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't mean to."

"It's natural. I was at fault here. I forgot to tell you about him."

"But…"

"Stop crying. Snot is coming out your nose."

"I'm sorry, Dad."

Saki came in with her medical kit. Hiromi was with her, carrying a basin of hot water. Saki and Midori carried Tsuneo to a corner and started cleaning his wound. Tsuneo explained everything to Midori. Hiromi pulled the blood-stained blanket off Naruto and carried it outside. She soaked it in water and came back to the room to check on Naruto.

"I didn't mean to," Midori said.

"It's not your fault, honey," Saki said. "After all, your father needs a few scratches every now and then, or he'll forget that he is a fighter."

"It's more of I'm proud of you rather than reproachful," Tsuneo said. "That was an amazing downward thrust: fast, accurate, and powerful."

Midori just nodded, still full of guilt. Tsuneo knew that Midori would feel that way for a long time, unless she did something in atonement.

"Okay. If the only way for you to forgive yourself is do something for me," Tsuneo began, "I'll assign you as our guest's personal nurse."

"What?" Midori blurted out. "But, Dad!"

Saki giggled. "That's a good idea. I don't want our Midori to stay the tomboy that she is."

"I'm not a tomboy, Mom!"

"Then?" Tsuneo cocked one eyebrow.

"Mom…" Midori searched an ally in Saki. "Anything but that!"

"My wound! My wound! Ah, it's killing me!" Tsuneo said, pretending to writhe in pain.

Saki played along. "Oh, no, your father is dying."

Midori's cheeks were burning. "Dad! Stop that!"

"Oh, oh, oh! Why must this happen to me? Oh!" Tsuneo said.

"Honey, you had better agree to it. I don't want to be a widow at thirty-six."

"All right! I'll do it!" Midori cast a sideway glance at Naruto and grimaced. She glared at Tsuneo.

"Isn't he a cutie?" Saki teased.

"I won't forget this," Midori said.

"Midori is cute even when mad," Tsuneo told Saki.

"They would make a fine couple," Saki said.

Midori slapped Tsuneo's wounded thigh. Tsuneo howled in pain.

"Mom, my daughter is rebelling against me! Mom!"

Midori stood up. "Mom, I'm hungry."

"I've sliced up a water melon in the kitchen," Saki said. "Hiromi, honey, go and eat some, too."

Hiromi set the towel aside. She had been wiping Naruto's face all along. "Mom, I'll leave the towel here."

"Okay."

Hiromi smiled at Midori. She held her hand, and they went to the kitchen.

…

Midori furiously gobbled the sweet, pink flesh of the watermelon. Hiromi ate hers with grace across her, the lady between the two.

"I can't believe them! Why me? Aren't you already taking care of him?" Midori said.

"You take care of him in the afternoon till evening. I'll take the mornings," Hiromi said.

"Don't make the schedule by yourself!"

"But you train in the morning, right?"

"Even so!" Midori went back to eating.

Hiromi giggled. "But isn't he cute? I think he's not from around here. I don't see a lot of men with that kind of hair in this country."

"His mom must have been blond."

"I don't think so. A woman's blood is weak. I'm sure he got it from his father."

Midori chewed and swallowed. "How come you know so much about these things?"

"Because I read more than train. Father said that I should be the scholar of the family, while you take on the Akabari's Dancing Lance Style. I only train enough to hit and run."

"Ah, it doesn't change anything. I don't know how to nurse someone. All I know my whole life is how to hold a lance."

"It's easy, onee-chan. All you have to do is think of him as me, Mom, or Dad, and everything will come to you." Hiromi stood up and took her plate to the sink. "Anyway, all you have to do is watch over him."

"What do you mean? Are you saying that I must sleep in the same room as him?"

"Yup. Until he wakes up."

"What? Hey, that's not funny."

"It's a part of your job, onee-chan. He needs someone beside him when he wakes up. Your plate, please."

Midori handed over her plate. "Can we swap over? I mean, I'll tend to him in the morning."

"That's okay with me." Hiromi began washing the plates. "But can you handle changing his clothes and cleaning him?"

"What?"

"So?"

"Damn it! Why is it that all of you are so fixated with him? I can't understand. Dad and Mom are acting suspicious, too."

"I like him because he is cute." She rinsed the plates and wiped it dry with clean cloth. "Did I tell you that Yuudai was protecting him from Kinjo?"

Midori turned around from her seat to face Hiromi. "Yuudai?"

"Yup. You know Yuudai? The eagle? Father and I saved him from Kinjo. Yuudai had called his birds to fight against the wolves. He never left onii-chan's side." Hiromi smiled. "See? Now you're interested. I'm not sure, but I think father thinks that he is someone special. Yuudai must have thought the same, too."

…

That night, while eating dinner, Midori kept her silence as her family bantered with each other. She didn't even feel like listening to them.

She stood up from her seat. "I'm finished."

"You're always conscious of your weight, Midori. Are you doing this so that our guest—" Tsuneo caught something going for his left eye. It was a chopstick. "Whoa! Mom, our daughter is trying to kill me!"

Hiromi suppressed a giggle. Saki said, "That's not nice, Midori. Apologize to your father. And you, honey, stop teasing Midori."

Tsuneo put the chopstick down and resumed eating the rice from his bowl. "Okay. My bad. But what about the apology?"

Saki looked at her daughter. "Midori?"

Midori looked down. "S-sorry, Dad."

Tsuneo pretended to be irritated. "Your sorry won't bring back my appetite. Man, the rice has turned bland." He suppressed a smirk. "Maybe a kiss on the cheek would—owowow!"

Saki was pinching his side. "That's enough, honey. Stop treating her like a child."

"All right. You're forgiven." Tsuneo glanced up at Midori. "But be sure to take good care of our guest, Midori."

That seriousness caught Midori off-guard. She looked away. "I can't promise that, Dad. I'm not good at these kinds of things."

"Just promise me that you'll not hurt him, at least. That's all I'm asking. Is that all right?"

Midori glanced at Tsuneo. Tsuneo's stare was piercing. "I'll try."

"Good." Tsuneo resumed eating.

"Excuse me," Midori said, and left. When she was in the hallway, she heard Tsuneo and Hiromi burst out laughing.

"You see how she blushed when I told her about our guest?" Tsuneo said.

A vein throbbed on Midori's temple. "Geez!" she muttered, clenching her fist. She walked with heavy feet towards the guestroom.

…

Midori stood in the doorway, staring at the face above the hem of the blanket. His face was serene. "What should I do? Watch over? How should I watch over you?" She tentatively made a step forward, being careful not to make any noise. When he didn't move, she closed the door and went on. She folded her knees and sat on her calves beside his futon. Her heart was beating fast. Her face was burning. She gulped. "You are indeed better looking than most men I've seen before," she muttered.

She caught sight of a glowing thing inside his shirt. Intrigued, she pulled at the string around his neck. The glow came from the crystal amulet. She leaned over to have a better look, not noticing that she was closing the distance between their faces. The sparkling dust inside the crystal intoxicated her. Their faces were near enough to kiss now. She could feel his warm, feather-light breath on her face, but she was oblivious to it. The crystal had taken all her attention.

"Sakura…?" began the weak voice. "Sakura, is that you?"

Midori jumped, taking with her the amulet, pulling the necklace from his neck. His clear blue eyes were staring at her. She gasped. They were prettier than the amulet, gems the color of the sky. She finally noticed that the crystal was in her hand. She put it back, frantically.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'll call—" She turned to go.

Naruto caught her hand. "Please…stay by my side…"

"Huh? I mean—"

"Please."

Midori stared into those blue gems again. In all honesty, she didn't feel any hostile intention from him. She was just imagining it.

"Please," Naruto repeated, and forced a smile.

"O-okay. I'll not leave, then." She felt him squeeze her hand, and she had to stifle a gasp. He didn't let go. He closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

She looked at their entwined hands and said to herself, "Who is this man? How could he make me relax so easily? We're stranger to each other, and I'm not used to being with a man alone in a room, but why am I not intimidated? Who is he?"

Even after strength had already left his hand, and she felt it let go, she kept on holding him.

…

Hiromi hummed a tune as she walked down the hallway in the direction of the guestroom. Midori hadn't gotten up, yet. It was unusual. Midori always woke up early to start her training. She was strict with herself, and she only missed a day when she was sick.

When Hiromi slid open the door to the guestroom, she gaped at what she arrived on. Midori had lain her head on the stranger's chest and was softly snoring. She was also holding the man's hand. Hiromi was secretly pleased. She stepped into the room.

Midori heard the light thuds made by Hiromi and drowsily looked up at her.

"Good morning, onee-chan!" Hiromi said, smiling. "I see that you have had a hot night."

Midori's eyes widened and realized that she was still holding Naruto's hand. She pulled her hand from his and wiped it on her robe as if disgusted by his touch. "Hi, sis! Morning!"

"How was your night, onee-chan?"

"Oh, yes! He woke up last night! He talked to me! He talked about a Sakura or something. I didn't hear it well, but it's not important. What's important is he woke up!"

"You seem to be quite excited." Hiromi smiled, meaningfully.

Midori stood up, stepped forward, and took hold of Hiromi's cheeks. "Why do you have to tease me so early in the morning? Okay. Maybe I'm excited. But it's over the fact that I will no longer take care of him when he wakes up."

"My cheeks, my cheeks!" Midori let go of her. "Geez, onee-chan! Were you trying to tear up my cheeks?"

"You deserve it. Hmph!" She walked to the door. "I'll leave everything to you, now. I haven't had enough sleep, so I think I'll take a nap for a couple of hours."

"Did he open his eyes or he just talked?"

Midori remembered his blue eyes and blushed. "He just talked," she lied. "Later."

"That's sleep-talking, then. She said he had woken up. Onee-chan, you liar!" But Midori was already gone and didn't hear Hiromi's rumblings.

…

Midori had just managed to sleep for one hour. The stranger had kept on intruding her dreams, so she had woken up many times from her slumber.

She took a bath and then went to the dojo to train. She felt sick in the head, but she still continued with her routines. From a distance Tsuneo watched her and noticed her rough movements. She was obviously distracted by something. Tsuneo approached and leaned against the edge of the door jamb, crossing his arms and pretending to be engaged in watching her. Midori didn't notice his presence. Tsuneo stayed quiet, until Midori tripped and slammed on the floor. Her lance slid away from her hand. He let a smirk out his mouth.

"Father?" She hurriedly stood up. "What are you doing here?"

"I was watching. I haven't expected to see something entertaining. Nice exhibition."

"I just lost my balance. It was an accident."

"You are distracted. A martial artist never trips, accidentally."

"You can't expect to be perfect all the time."

Tsuneo grinned. "Is this about our guest? Did something happen that I don't know?"

Midori looked away. She tried to answer, but chose to fetch her lance from the floor.

"Midori, I'll tell you the truth. That boy is a shinobi."

"What?"

Tsuneo pulled a blue forehead protector from his sleeve. "I got this from him."

Midori took the forehead protector from her father and inspected it. "What does this inscription stand for, Dad?"

"That's the symbol of one of the strongest hidden villages in history—Konoha."

"Konoha? He's a ninja of Konoha?"

"He is if that forehead protector is really his."

"How did he get washed up here? Is Konoha near our country?"

"It's far from here. Almost two countries away. I've only read it from a book somewhere. I've never been there before. Moreover, they are called hidden villages because they're not easy to find."

Midori stared at the forehead protector. The steel plate glinted under the morning light. "You don't have to tell me what he is. He won't stay long, anyway."

"It's better if you know. So, tell me, how is he for you?"

"What 'how is he?'"

"You know, what did you feel while you were with him? I know you have a knack at these things. You're intuition about people is always right." He saw how Midori blushed. "All right. I understand." He smiled and turned around. "By the way, Hiromi told me that he had woken up last night. Is that true?"

"Yes, Dad. He was talking about a Sakura. I'm not sure if he was pertaining to a tree or a person. The next thing he said only grazed my ears."

"That's good to hear. And Midori?"

"Yes, Dad."

"Skip training today. It's not advisable to train if your mind is somewhere else. Take this day to rest."

Tsuneo was about to reach the doorway when she thought to ask him something. "Dad, are shinobis strong?"

Tsuneo stopped and caressed his chin with his thumb. "They are. Why are you asking?"

"Nothing. I'm just curious."

As he watched the blue sky above, Tsuneo sighed. Now it was clear to him why Kinjo was interested in the boy. Kinjo wanted to summon himself back to where he came from. Tsuneo smelled the scent of an imminent battle. But he would never go back on his words. No matter if he was wrong or right. He would never surrender the boy to Kinjo.

…

The breaths of the wolves mingled with the cold air as plumes of vapor, vibrations of snarls audible as the wind passed through their throat. They were inching forward to the lone house in the center of the bamboo forest. Setsuko gripped her spear more tightly beside her. The moon had just risen in the sky.

"Won't you talk with him first, Father?" Setsuko asked.

"All right. I'll ask him once. Bakuryu, if need be, deactivate the seal."

"What? You plan to deactivate your seals? Father, we outnumber them. Why do you need to go that far?"

"They are few, but they are strong, especially Tsuneo and Saki. We don't have a choice."

Tsuneo was smoking his pipe in the kitchen when he felt their presence. Saki, who was washing the dishes, felt them, too. Hiromi and Midori were in the guest room.

"Honey, I think we have visitors," Tsuneo said. His eyes turned into sharp slits, a killer's eyes. Saki's eyes became colorless, too. "They must be here for our guest. Tell Midori to prepare. You take care of Hiromi and the boy." With a smiling face, Tsuneo stood up and went to the front gate.

Kinjo went out from the bamboo forest. He saw Tsuneo. "You know why I'm here. Just hand him over to us, Tsuneo, and I promise you that we will leave your family alone."

Tsuneo looked around. "I see that you've brought your entire family." The eyes of the wolves glowed as if in greeting. "You know the answer to that, Kinjo."

"Then I have no choice." The wolves showed themselves, fierce and hungry, fangs bared and dripping with saliva. "I thought I could talk it out with you."

_To be continued…_


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7: A Difficult Path Back Home

Tsuneo slipped his upper body out of his robe. His upper body was made up of lean muscles. He raised his arms in front of him and clenched them. The muscles around his body tightened and became more pronounced, more threatening. The innumerable scars on his skin told a history of wars and of love affairs with blades and arrows of all kinds. This man had been in hell.

"Bakuryu, Setsuko! I'll take care of him! You go and get the boy!" Kinjo said.

Bakuryu and Setsuko stepped forward, but to their surprise, two Tsuneos appeared in front of them.

"Where are you supposed to go?" the Tsuneo in front of Setsuko asked.

"Do you think I will just stand there?" the Tsuneo in front of Bakuryu said.

"No, no! Setsuko! Bakuryu!" Kinjo cried.

"Meteor Fist!" Both Tsuneos sent a full-power right straight towards Setsuko and Bakuryu. The fists seemed to suck in the air around them like a low pressure area and when they finally reached their final destination, a pulse of wind erupted and destroyed everything in its path. The bamboo in the pulse's path either cracked at its trunk or was uprooted. The rocks exploded as if bombed. The earth was turned into a ditch. Some of the wolves ran away, yelping in fear. The Tsuneo, who had been in front of Setsuko, turned to smoke. The remaining disappeared and reappeared at the front gate, arms crossed, lips curled into an impressed smile. "Well, well, well. That was fast, Kinjo."

Kinjo put Setsuko and Bakuryu on the ground. He had used his mouth to save them. But the Kinjo now was not the Kinjo earlier. He had grown big, five times larger than before. He had a green armor around his chest and leg guards on all four. A necklace of fangs that had a wolf skull as the center ornament hung around his neck. His left ear had a golden earring on it.

"So, you're finally going all out," Tsuneo said. "Good. I'm rusting and I need some oil on my joints."

"Were you really planning to kill Setsuko?" Kinjo's voice was now deeper and more powerful.

"No. If I was really planning to do that, no amount of speed could have saved them. I was waiting for you."

"I'm relieved. Then, let's start." Kinjo disappeared.

"Saki, take the children away! Midori, take care of Setsuko!" Tsuneo said.

Kinjo appeared fifteen meters above. "Sound Release: Sonic Fangs!" He shot out a single "Ha!" from his mouth towards Tsuneo. The speed of that bulk of shockwaves was more than three thousand meters a second, and it reached the ground in no time. The impact pulverized the solid ground and crushed the wall of the dojo and the fence. "You cannot escape from me!" Kinjo disappeared again.

"I'm not planning to do that!" Tsuneo sucked in air until his chest inflated bigger than a normal human could. His eyes trailed Kinjo's movements and they moved as if tracking a restless fly. _Got you!_

"Sound Release: Sonic Fangs!" Kinjo cried.

The bulk of shockwave cruised towards Tsuneo. Tsuneo pushed the air out of his lungs. The two masses of compressed shockwaves and air collided, causing a strong wind that howled as it pushed everything away. Kinjo dashed forward. Tsuneo put his hands together at his right hip as if holding a ball there.

"Now, come, old friend!"

Kinjo opened his mouth. It would be a direct, close-range hit. He was face to face with Tsuneo. "Ha!"

Tsuneo raised his hands and thrust them forward in Kinjo's direction. But Kinjo's attack was faster. The bulk of shockwaves hit Tsuneo. Fortunately, he had decreased the force of Kinjo's attack with his forward thrust. Kinjo's attack plowed him through the dojo wall. The friction it had produced against his body made his skin sustain a first degree burn. His body smoked.

Kinjo padded into the dojo. "Is that all you got?"

Tsuneo was grinning. "As I thought, I would never defeat you with only Taijutsu."

"It has been twenty-six years ever since you spoke anything about Shinobi Art to me. Do you still remember?"

"This is not the place and time to reminisce about the past." Tsuneo assumed a low stance. He put his left hand in front of him and his right fist at his hip. "Let's finish this."

"As you wish."

…

Saki was leaping from tree to tree. She had Hiromi under one arm and Naruto under the other. The bamboo forest was already way behind her. Bakuryu and Cujo chased after her. The forest of gigantic trees stood in darkness, but somehow she could see her way through. She had worn her black operation attire: body vest, arm and shin guards, and a Ninjato (dagger-katana) on her back.

"Mom, why is Kinjo attacking us?" Hiromi asked.

"Don't talk. You'll bite your tongue." Suddenly, she felt something hitting her left shoulder. Her left arm instantly went numb and she dropped Naruto.

"Mom! Onii-chan is falling!"

"Shit." Saki changed direction. She propelled towards the tree in front of her and ran down against its trunk. Naruto was falling fast. Little by little she caught up with him.

"Mom! I can see onii-chan!" Hiromi said.

"Okay." Saki kicked against the tree to propel herself towards Naruto. She was about to grab him when a shadow passed in front of her. All of a sudden Naruto was gone. Saki put her feet against the tree she was about to bump into. She stood there horizontally, searching the surrounding. She walked onto a branch and put Hiromi down. The culprit stood four trees away from her. It was Cujo. He had Naruto between his teeth. His appearance had changed. From the skinny wolf he had been, he was now five times larger. He was wearing an open shirt with torn edges and five silver earrings on each ear. A skull of a hawk hung on a necklace around his thick neck. "Hiromi," she said, "stay here."

Blood ran out of Cujo's nose.

"Cujo, escape with the boy!" Bakuryu cried. But, he was too late. Cujo reeled and lost his balance. He fell from the branch, his mouth losing grip of Naruto. Bakuryu deactivated his seal. As he leaped up towards Cujo, smoke surrounded him, and he became _six_ times larger and very muscular—a muscle type wolf-warrior. He caught Cujo by the scruff of his neck and laid him down on the ground. Saki caught Naruto in midair. "Cujo, get a grip of yourself! We're out of here!" Bakuryu leaped up towards Hiromi.

Saki was horrified when she saw Bakuryu grabbed Hiromi between his teeth and ran-off. "Hiromi!"

"Mom!" Hiromi cried. "Help me!"

Naruto heard her voice. His heart beat strongly in his chest.

Saki put Naruto down and went after Bakuryu. "Hiromi!"

Cujo shook his head and ran after Saki. When he was near her, he used all his might and leaped. Below, Naruto disappeared from where he was. A circle of dust whirled in his place, an evidence of immense speed. Cujo opened his mouth. Saki was oblivious to the impending danger. All she cared about was to reach Hiromi. Cujo was only inches away. Nearing. Nearing. Nearing.

"Hiromi!" Saki cried, and then felt the killing intent behind her. She turned her head around and saw the murderous glare of the big wolf. Her eyes grew wide.

"Mooooom!" Hiromi shrieked.

Arms enfolded Saki, warm and reassuring. Instantly, her fear disappeared. Then she was off into the air. The world whirled around her.

"Hammer of Justice!" Naruto ended his seemingly never-ending somersault with a knee onto the head of Cujo. Cujo crashed to the ground. Naruto perched on a branch of a tree carrying Saki in his arms.

"Are you okay? Nothing hurts?" Naruto asked. He gently swept the hair away from her face and searched for any sign of pain in her expression. Saki shook her head in his hands.

"Mooooom!"

Hiromi's voice woke her up. "My daughter! The other wolf snatched my daughter! Please, help her!"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, yes! Please, they're getting away!"

"Are you really sure?"

Saki looked at him, and then nodded. When Naruto still seemed to wait for something, she kissed him.

Naruto was surprised. He frowned. "I'm serious. The wolf had shot you with invisible needles. I'm not sure what they were. They could be poison."

"No. I'm okay. Nothing hurts," she said. "I'm fine. Please. Save my daughter."

"Okay." With that he disappeared like the wind.

…

There was something wrong with the gait of the wolf in front of him. The wolf seemed to be in pain and was just forcing itself to get away. He was thinking this when Cujo suddenly appeared in front of him and shot him a rain of needles. He hastily changed direction. An anaconda crawling on the ground received the needles and instantly fainted. Cujo growled at him.

"That was a powerful attack. If I was not in this form, I could have died," Cujo said. "Anyway, I'm not letting you off. The girl is ours. The woman you saved earlier can no longer stand up. I'm sure I hit her legs. It's better if you go back to her now before the poison—"

"With that many needles, even a large anaconda will die instantly if those needles really contain lethal poison. I can still feel the life from the anaconda below. They only contain paralyzing poison."

Cujo tried to laugh, but hacked out blood, instead. "You're no ordinary shinobi. What is your rank?"

"I'm still a Genin. You're a summoned beast, aren't you?"

"Yes. The wolf that kidnapped the kid is also a summoned beast. Don't worry, we will not hurt her."

"Like I'd believe you." Naruto jumped off past Cujo. Cujo caught up and shot a barrage of needles at him. Naruto quickly went away from the line of the attack. He ran down a branch and stopped in front of Cujo. He leaped towards Cujo and formed a Rasengan in each hand. "Rasengan!" He thrust the balls of chakra at Cujo. However, what he hit was just an after image. Cujo appeared to his right and attempted to bite his side. Naruto tried to hit Cujo with his Rasengan. It connected, but Cujo turned into smoke. A shadow clone.

"Tornado Fangs!"

Naruto instantly turned in the direction of the sound only to see a small tornado aiming for him. He was too late to dodge. He formed hand seals as he went crashing towards the ground. There was an explosion of dust. Cujo multiplied into three separate wolves. They jumped from the branches they were perched on and spun around to form three tornadoes. The two tornadoes at the side joined the one at the center, increasing the destructive power and speed of the attack. The resulting giant tornado aimed at Naruto.

"Typhoon Fangs!"

The explosion was audible. It reached Bakuryu. It reached Saki. Both suddenly felt alarmed. The dust the impact had raised moved slowly above the ground, around the trees, and between the grasses. Cujo stood panting a few meters from the rim of the crater his attack had created. He padded to it and looked down to have a look at his victim in the center of the crater. There he was, lifeless. Cujo coughed up blood, reeled, but managed to maintain his stance. "I'm at my limit. The seal has been deactivated for seven minutes already." He smirked. "I don't have much time to live. I can tell that you're still alive. Come out. I don't care if you kill me. I've already done my job. I'm sure Bakuryu has reached our lair."

The Naruto at the center of the crater turned into a log. The real Naruto burrowed out of the ground, spinning. He had been aiming for Cujo's chest, but decided to change path. He stood next to the large wolf. Upon meeting his eyes, Cujo's legs gave in. He fell on his side. His breath was short.

"Are you working for a ninja?" Naruto asked.

"Since I'm dying I might as well tell you. The answer is no." He coughed up blood.

"What?"

"Our masters were killed in the war a long time ago. We have lived here for twenty-six years as ordinary wolves."

"So that's the reason you don't disappear back to your world even if you're in the verge of death. I get it." Naruto approached Cujo. "May I have some of your blood?"

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to bring you home."

Cujo was surprised. Beads of tears sprouted from the corners of his eyes. "You…you are going to do that? Despite what I did to your friends?"

"Yes."

"Please." Cujo offered his paw so that Naruto could draw out blood directly from his vein. Naruto cut the pad of his paw with a quick flick of his thumb. He dipped his thumb on the pool of blood that materialized on Cujo's paw. He dragged his thumb over his palm. Then he formed the Seal of Tiger and summoned the Contract Scroll for Sacred Beasts: Wolves. The scroll—it was larger than him—appeared. He laid it down. The paper was divided into columns.

"Do you accept me as your new master and serve under me one-sidedly?" Naruto asked.

"Yes."

"What is your name?"

"I'm Cujo."

Naruto searched for Cujo among the columns. Once he found it, he bit his thumb and written Uzumaki Naruto in the column under the wolf's name. He pressed his left thumb that had Cujo's blood and his right thumb with his blood underneath his name. "The contract is finished."

Cujo couldn't contain his gratitude. "Thank you very much. What is your name, master?"

"Uzumaki Naruto." There was a hint of smile on Cujo's lips before he disappeared into smoke. Naruto rolled the scroll and unsummoned it. "Uzumaki Naruto. Is that my name? What is this feeling that's telling me that I've forgotten quite a large deal about my life?" he muttered. He shook his head. There were more important things at hand. He went back to where he had left Saki.

…

Saki was trying to move her legs when he arrived. She looked up. "Where is my daughter?"

"I couldn't catch up."

"What? What's happened?"

"The other wolf hindered me." He suddenly swept Saki up. "Let's go to your house, first."

Saki struggled. "Put me down! My daughter is in danger! Do you think I will just accept it and go home?"

"Trust me. They're not planning to hurt her."

"What are you talking about? They kidnapped my daughter! Are you that dumb to miss the message?"

Naruto stared at Saki. Saki glared at him. "Would you please calm down?"

"I will never calm down until you let me go!"

Naruto thought for a while. He was still staring at Saki. "I don't know where this place is, but you seem to have a strange way of things here." He leaned forward.

"What do you think you're—?"

Naruto kissed her. Saki blinked at him. "Calm down," he said.

"No, no!" She still struggled. "Put me down this instant!"

"You mean one kiss is not enough?"

"Are you an idiot?"

Naruto leaned forward.

"Okay! Okay! I understand! I get the message. But remember this. If something happens to my daughter, I'll kill you."

Naruto said, "Nothing will happen to her. I promise. Now, hold onto me tightly."

Saki did as told, and they were off.

"Why are you so sure?" Saki said after they had cleared a few trees.

"First thing, you're still alive. Second, those wolves have no master." He let a few moments pass. "Sorry, I kissed you. I thought it was some kind of act here to tell someone to calm down, since you had kissed me when I was worrying over you."

"It's okay."

"Have you been taking care of me?"

"Yes. My daughter found you yesterday. The river had brought you here."

"Thank you," he said. "What is your name?"

"I'm Saki."

"You live here alone with your daughter?"

"I have another daughter…and a husband."

"Eh?" Naruto blanched. Sweat sprouted from his forehead. "You…" he gulped, "…you have a husband."

"Yes and I'll tell him about what happened between us."

Naruto stopped at a branch of a tree and set Saki down. "Please, Saki-san. Please, let it be just a secret between us!"

"Hmph! You kissed me and I'll tell."

"What do you like me to do to forgive me?"

"Nothing. I'll tell my honey. I'm already decided."

"I will do anything for you. Anything!"

"Anything?"

"Yes, yes!"

"Really?" Saki looked at him, slyly. "You'll do anything?"

"Yes. Please, don't tell your husband."

"Okay. First, save Hiromi. Second, make Midori fall in love with you."

"Eh? Make…who is Midori?"

"My eldest. If you can't do that, then I'll tell. What do you think?" Saki smiled, triumphantly.

Naruto crossed his arms and turned away, thinking. His temples were crying sweat. Saki found this funny and giggled.

"So?" Saki prodded on. "What is your answer?"

"I'll try."

"It's yes or no. There's no try."

Naruto glanced at her from the corner of his eye. When he saw her, he knew that he already lost to her. "O-okay. I think you'll not give me any choice."

Saki smiled. "Then it's a deal." She tried to stand up on her feet. She succeeded. "I think the poison has already lost its effect."

Naruto approached her and held her arms. He was a head taller than her. "Take it easy, Saki-san. Don't force yourself."

Saki looked in his eyes. They were blue like a pair of spherical sapphires. She found herself being drawn to them. She put her hands on his shoulders.

"Saki-san?"

"I'm sorry I had to do this."

She pulled his face and kissed him. She intruded him with her tongue. Naruto's knees jerked forward. Every time Saki hit a sensitive spot in his mouth, he would twitch. She whirled him towards the trunk of the tree and pushed him there, becoming more forceful. She thrust her mouth into his mouth, hungry, longing. She began to moan. Drool began flowing out from Naruto's mouth, a sign of inexperience. Saki grabbed Naruto's wrists and put his hands over her breasts. This time, Naruto realized that what was happening was dangerous. He mustered his courage and pushed Saki away. Saki's eyes gleamed in mischief. She licked her lips.

"So, you're inexperienced," she said, smiling.

"Why did you do that?" Naruto's cheeks were blushing, but his lips were pale.

"I felt like doing it. You're attractive. Didn't you like it?"

"I…" he gulped. "T-thank you, if that's what you mean."

"Since you're sure that Hiromi is safe, and this is maybe my last chance of doing this little infidelity, why don't we have another go?" Saki put her arms around his neck. "This time, let's do it all the way."

"No! Saki-san, we should not do this. I'll do our deal, but this is unfair to your husband. Please stop."

Saki seemed to realize what was happening with her, but she didn't let go of him. She had missed this vigor of her heart, the warm blood rushing in her veins, the heat in her womanhood, and the sticky sweat on her skin. "Okay," she said. "Okay, I give up. But, will you kiss me one last time?"

"Huh?"

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No. I don't have a girlfriend. I don't remember having one."

"Then no one will get angry."

"No one will get angry? How about your husband?"

"This will be the last. I'll tell on you if you don't do this."

"What?"

"Think of this as doing a mighty favor for a woman in need of love. Will you do that for me?"

Naruto didn't know if what Saki was asking of him was right or wrong. However, he was sure that Saki would not let go if he didn't give in. He thought of someone, someone that he would freely give a kiss to. Faces went past his mind's eye until he spotted a face of someone familiar. A cute girl with pink hair and mint-green eyes was smiling at him. He didn't recognize who she was, but he felt that he would do anything for her. He looked at Saki and imagined the face of the girl. He slowly leaned over, and then their lips touched.

Saki felt the current flowing from his mouth into hers. His kiss was imbued with sincere feelings. She almost believed that he loved her. But she knew he was thinking of someone other than her. Anyway, she was glad she had asked for it. This was one of the happiest moments of her life.

"I love you," Naruto muttered.

Saki blinked, blushed, and searched his eyes. "Huh?"

Naruto backed away from her. "Uh, sorry, I didn't mean it."

Saki observed him for a while, and then she laughed. "Yeah. Of course, you didn't. Now, tell me your name."

"I'm…" he gave her the name he remembered to be his, "…Uzumaki Naruto."

_To be continued…_


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8: Plunging Into a New World

The dojo was gone, turned into debris of rocks, silt, and wood. The other wolves were gone, too, knowing that they would die if they stayed. Midori fought with her lance against Setsuko's twin kukri blades. They were equal in everything; only that Midori had grace and elegance of movements while Setsuko had instinctive, almost wild style.

It had already been twelve minutes since Kinjo deactivated his seal. He was only being courageous, but he knew that his internal organs were giving up one by one. He could feel blood gurgling in his throat. However, he dared not to let it out his mouth in front of Tsuneo. The last thing he wanted from his opponent was pity.

Tsuneo, on the other hand, was enjoying the fight. Kinjo was really a formidable opponent, and he hadn't had anyone as him to fight against for a long time. Kinjo could match his inhuman speed, counter his attacks, and null his tactics. One slip could mean defeat.

They were only the ones who could see each other. To an observer's eye, all of their movements were as good as a roguish wind, hitting one direction in a moment, and then turning towards another in the blink of an eye. That was how the dojo and most of the house proper had gotten destroyed. It was as if a sorcerer was at work, bit by bit making a chunk disappear.

Eventually, they pushed themselves away from each other. Tsuneo had a few scratches while Kinjo had a bloodied fur.

Kinjo couldn't suppress it anymore. He coughed up blood. Tsuneo didn't miss this.

"That was a damn, good punch, Tsuneo. I'd give you that," Kinjo said.

"You know damn well that I haven't landed a clean hit on you, you old dog." He frowned. "Now I lost my appetite. Go back to your forest, recuperate, and try again."

"If you'll get soft on me, I'll not hold back anymore."

"You've been holding back?" Tsuneo chuckled. "Well, I've been, too."

"Good. For the second time, let's finish this."

"I'd be happy to."

They dashed towards each other. Suddenly, pain surged from Kinjo's heart, and he nearly fell. He struggled to keep his balance and went on. He tried desperately to hide the pain from Tsuneo. He somehow succeeded because Tsuneo was still going full-force. Kinjo smiled. He knew one way or the other that he would die. He was supposed to deactivate his seal for only two minutes—the safe limit. Five minutes could already kill him. But he had been fighting with his true form for over twelve minutes now. He chose the other hell—dying in the hands of a warrior. At least, that way, he could have dignity and honor until his last breath. He put more speed in his gait and opened his mouth. As he was about to collide with Tsuneo, his vision blurred, and the next thing he saw was Tsuneo's fist. His teeth clicked as the punch on his forehead connected. He got pushed on the ground. He lost control over the seal and reverted back to being an ordinary wolf. His good eye trembled as he looked up at Tsuneo. He managed a painful smirk.

"I lost," Kinjo said. "You're still strong."

"I couldn't pull my fist back. I told you…I told you I was serious."

"In a death match, one is supposed to lose and die. You're stronger. I acknowledge that."

"Father!" Setsuko cried. "Shit!" She blocked Midori's lance with her blades, and then, when she found a chance, she sprinted away into the bamboo forest. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry, Father…" Beads of tears spilled out her eyes as she ran as fast as she could.

"If I'm already incapable of continuing, you escape, Setsuko," Kinjo had told her in their briefing.

"But, why? I'll never leave you!"

"If you die with me, my soul will never know peace. Please, treat this as doing an important favor for me…"

"I'll avenge you, Father. I'll take revenge on them!" The sharp twigs of the bamboo didn't slow her even for a little. A twig slashed her smooth face. Blood sprang out. It stung but she didn't care.

…

"You have to kill me now," Kinjo said in the loudest voice he could manage. It buzzed like a fly in a bottle amidst the continuous flow of blood out his mouth. "I will die eventually, but I want to die in your hands."

Tsuneo looked at the pitiful wolf. The time seemed to stop around him. He was hesitating.

"What are you waiting for?"

"I'll do the honor, then," Tsuneo finally said. "I'm…"

"Do not apologize." Kinjo looked at Tsuneo. "Don't add shame on my name by apologizing."

"As you wish." Tsuneo sipped in air, and it hissed through his teeth. A painful sound. The sound of regret. _I'm sorry._ Tsuneo composed himself and launched the final blow.

It could have crushed Kinjo's skull if it connected, but Kinjo disappeared. He looked to his left and saw Naruto setting down Kinjo on the ground. "Just in time, kid," he said.

Naruto didn't waste time. He reached out for Kinjo's paw and cut its pad. He repeated the process; he asked Kinjo's name, wrote his own name on the scroll, and sealed the contract with his blood and Kinjo's.

"I'll repay you once I've healed my wounds," Kinjo said.

Naruto grinned. "What repay? You'll _serve_ me."

"Thank you, master." Kinjo turned into smoke.

Naruto stood up and approached Tsuneo. Midori blocked his way, glaring at him. She trained her blade at his throat.

"Stop right there," Midori said. "Or—"

Naruto walked through the blade and faded like a ghost. He was suddenly behind Midori and nearing Tsuneo.

Midori turned her head to him, perplexed.

"I assume that you two are nin—"

Tsuneo covered his mouth with one hand. "Shush. Not here." He jerked his head to tell him that he didn't want Midori to know. Naruto frowned. "Let's talk later."

"I expect that you had a good reason for almost doing that," Naruto said. Tsuneo just smiled. Naruto looked behind him at Midori. He squinted and looked her up and down.

"What are you looking at?" Midori asked.

Naruto turned back to Tsuneo. "She's your daughter?"

Tsuneo grinned. "Yup!"

"She doesn't look like you."

"Many say that. She takes after her mother."

Naruto squinted at Saki. Saki smiled mischievously at him. He cringed. "She doesn't look like her mother, either."

Tsuneo put his right arm around Naruto's neck and laughed out loud. He hunkered down, pulling Naruto with him, their backs on Midori. "It's a long story. We are keeping a lot of secrets from both of them, I mean, from Midori and Hiromi." He smiled. "But you're sharp, kid. By the way, did the other wolves get Hiromi?"

"One did. I summoned the other one back to his world."

"So that's what happened." He sighed. "Anyway, we don't want Midori to know that I and Saki are ninjas. For them, we are fighters."

"What's the difference, then? Besides, Hiromi-chan has already seen her mother do some crazy moves in the forest."

"They've already seen us do some crazy moves before. Fighters can do that." Off Naruto's disbelief, he added, "Look, did Saki use any Ninjutsu that you were aware of? No, right? I asked her. She said no."

"Suspicious."

"Okay! Listen. Midori knows about ninjas. If she knew we were ninjas, who could have summoned Kinjo back to his world, she would blame us for this mess. Do you understand, now?"

"It's still suspicious. You're just covering your asses."

"You know…what's your name?"

"Naruto."

"You know, Naruto-kun, what I am covering right now is just the surface. We wouldn't have kept this secret for a long time if we were just afraid that one day our girls would know about it and hate us. Besides, this is just a little favor I'm asking you."

"I'm still not convinced, but if you put it that way…"

"Thank you. Now—"

"What are you whispering about?" Midori asked.

Tsuneo turned his head to Midori. "Nothing, dear, just a little boy's talk." To Naruto, he said, "I'm counting on you on this."

"Okay."

They stood up. Tsuneo patted Naruto's shoulder. "Cooperation, okay?"

Midori asked, "Mom, where's Hiromi?"

"They took her," Saki said.

"What?"

"It's my fault," Naruto said.

Midori frowned at him. "You?"

"I couldn't save her, but I'm sure they won't hurt her."

"Don't treat this as if it's some kind of a joke!"

"Calm down, Midori," Saki said.

"How am I supposed to calm down? Hiromi—" Midori fainted. Tsuneo caught her from behind. He had hit her neck with a chop.

Tsuneo looked at Saki, and then at Naruto. "Better if she rested."

…

"We're not really a real family," Tsuneo began. They were alone at the well. Saki was inside the storage room with Midori. Tsuneo was smoking his pipe, while Naruto leaned on the bucket support. "It's better that you know since Saki already did something idiotic."

"What do you mean you're not a real family?"

"Saki and I are not husband and wife. Hiromi and Midori are siblings, but they are not our children. My real family was murdered in the war. Saki is my subordinate."

"Then my assumption is correct. You're ninjas, right?"

"Yes. We're ninjas who have been on a single mission ever since. That's all that I can tell you."

"If you really are, then why didn't you help the wolves?"

"It's a long story."

"Kinjo killed his brother," Saki said, approaching with a tray of three cups and a pitcher of tea. "Here's some tea."

"Saki-san!" Naruto blurted out.

"Shush. We're just three yards from Midori. It would be bad if she woke up." She set the tray down and poured tea in each cup.

Tsuneo picked up a cup and smiled. "Saki will tell you the rest." He left.

"He doesn't want to remember if possible," Saki said to break the silence. "So, aside from anything about our mission, I can tell you anything. Where do you want me to start?"

"How old are you?"

Saki suppressed a smirk. There were more important things beside that. "What do you think?"

"Twenty-six?"

Saki laughed. "You think that I'm that young?"

"You mean you're old?"

"Of course, not. Guess again."

"Thirty."

"Wrong."

"Come on. Tell me."

She giggled. "I don't want to. Girls hate questions about weight and age."

Naruto sipped some tea. "That was my first adult kiss." He felt a tug at his heart.

"Oh, you can kiss me anytime you want."

"I won't do that, Saki-san. It's just that I'd hate it if someone too old to be my mother gave me my first adult kiss." Now, he remembered Shizune's face. He didn't understand why it came up. He shook his head. He didn't remember who Shizune was.

"You're honesty is a bit insulting, you know that? Age doesn't matter. I'm not that old, anyway."

"How long have you been together with Tsuneo-san?"

"Hate to think of us being together?"

"No. I'm serious."

"Let me think. Maybe, ever since I was sixteen. He was my sensei."

"What village did you come from?"

"That's confidential. You're from Konoha, right?"

"Konoha?"

"Yes. I think honey gave your forehead protector to Midori. The emblem on it signifies Konoha."

"The name is familiar to me, but I don't remember it, exactly."

Saki frowned. "How come? You remember your name."

"I do, but I'm not sure if it's really mine. That's the first thing that comes to my mind when I'm asked about my name, but I'm not sure if it really is."

"You mean, you don't remember where you came from?"

Naruto looked at her. He shook his head.

"You have some form of amnesia. Maybe it was from shock. What do you remember?"

"Some things make sense like when Cujo-san asked me what my rank was. From that, I remembered that I was a shinobi. I can also perfectly recall everything about being one. But some things are fuzzy. I do remember faces, but I don't remember who they belong to or what they mean to me."

Saki sipped from her cup. "This is troublesome. Honey told me that you woke up once and mentioned 'Sakura.' Actually, it was Midori who heard you. What does the name mean to you?"

"Sakura?" Naruto was quiet for a while. Then he shook his head. "I don't recall anyone by that name."

"Try harder."

Naruto did. It was a good, full minute, and then he sighed. "Nothing is coming."

Saki glanced at Naruto. He seemed troubled, and she had to look away to forget about lunging at him and hugging him. "It will come in time. You can't remember the names of your summons, I assume."

"I don't."

Saki sighed. "It would have been easier if you did." For a time they were quiet. Suddenly, Naruto laughed. It surprised her. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing will come out from worrying. At least, I didn't die, right? Besides, I like adventures. This also means that I will be able to meet new faces and have plenty of opportunities to get stronger."

Saki smiled at him, showing her beautiful, pearly-white teeth that faintly reflected the moon. "You're pretty optimistic about your situation. You should be crying right now."

"Nah. It will only waste my energy. Anyway, you keep calling Tsuneo-san 'honey.' What's the real deal?"

Saki laughed. It seemed to her that Naruto was really affected by the kiss. "He is too old for me."

"Too old? What do you mean? How old is he?"

"He's fifty-six."

"What?" Naruto was totally shocked. "He only looks thirty-something to me. Does it mean you're in your forties, already?" Thump! "Ow…"

"Hmph! One more comment like that and I'll kill you. I'm only thirty-six." She caught herself. "Shit. Anyway, I call him 'honey' out of habit. We have been in cover for over seventeen years. It became a natural thing between us."

"Really? You're already thirty-six?" Naruto looked at her closely. "You don't look like one. You look so young."

"Of course! I take care of myself."

"Are you sure there's nothing happening between you two?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just curious."

"You sound as if you're trying to find a clear path towards me. Is that kiss bothering you that much?"

Naruto straightened. "No, no! Of course, not!"

"I'm getting a little uneasy with your questions, Naruto-kun." She breathed in air. "Remember what I told you back in the forest?"

"Yes."

"All of it is true. Let's close this topic and go on to the next."

Naruto considered for a while. "Ummm…how come the two girls don't suspect you? I mean, how do you do that?"

"In front of them, we _are_ a couple. It's that simple. We've become a natural being one." Unnecessarily, she added, "But I swear that that's the end of it. When the girls sleep, we're back at being partners. Nothing more."

"I didn't ask for you to elaborate too much."

"You asked! You know, let's forget this. It seems you really don't want to know anything." She began to get up.

"When I saved Kinjo-san earlier, Tsuneo-san seemed relieved. Had they, by any chance, been friends?"

Saki thought if she should leave, but her good nature prevented her. "They were. Kinjo was the summon of Tsuneo's brother. Twenty-six years ago, in the war between Kogiwara and Nue—we are in Nue, by the way—Kinjo bit Tamotsu to death."

"Tamotsu?"

"Yes. He was honey's older brother. I still don't know why Kinjo did that, but I know he had a reason. Anyway, honey witnessed that incident and he never forgave Kinjo. Honey was so mad that he put a cursed seal on himself, forbidding him to summon beasts forever."

"He can do that?"

"He already did."

"How come he didn't kill Kinjo-san?"

"He thought that it would be too easy for Kinjo. All he did was to make sure Kinjo wouldn't be able to get back to his world ever again. Some of honey's friends sympathized with him, and they created a barrier around the forest to lock Kinjo and his colleagues here. For twenty-six years, they were imprisoned here."

"Why didn't he ask Kinjo-san about his reason?"

"Of course, he did. But Kinjo or any of the wolves couldn't tell."

"You mean, wouldn't."

"No. _Couldn't._ It seems that Tamotsu-san put a restricting seal on them. It's still a mystery. You know, there was a time that I thought honey had already forgiven Kinjo. I was really happy that time. Kinjo had brought here a baby girl. For twelve years, Kinjo regularly checked on the baby. We talked about things. We drank sake together." She paused. "I realized it too late that honey was just doing that because Midori was here, and he didn't want her to experience negative emotions. Kinjo seemed to understand and played along, but what he only cared about was the baby girl. Honey became attached to the girl, and he treated her as his own, a sister for Midori. But the girl ran away to go with Kinjo. Honey believed that Kinjo convinced her to leave. For the second time, he felt that Kinjo had taken something precious away from him, and their enmity worsened."

"Where is that girl now?"

"She was with the wolves that attacked us."

"What are you planning to do with her once this is over?"

Saki smiled. "Of course."

"Of course, what?"

"Don't play cute." Saki finally stood up. "I guess that's it for now. How long has it been since you summoned them back?"

"Three hours, three hours one-half. Let's wait for another two hours to be sure."

Saki got the empty cup from him. "Are you sure you don't want a kiss?"

Naruto laughed, nervously. "No, thanks."

"Don't regret it."

…

"He is a cunning boy, isn't he?" Tsuneo said. He was lounging at the back of the dojo. Saki had to pass there to reach the kitchen. "If that conversation went on, you might have accidentally told him something you must not."

"Yes," Saki said. "I missed it the first time, but he was asking random questions to divert my attention."

"He was able to make you tell your age."

Saki shook her head, longingly. "Yeah. I didn't notice it. He made me comfortable talking with him."

"He must have been living with incredible people."

"You bet." Saki went on.

Tsuneo puffed some smoke into the air.

…

Two hours later, Saki brought Naruto his original clothes: his orange trousers and jacket. "Here, I washed them for you and sewed up the holes," she said.

"Thanks a lot, Saki-san."

"Welcome."

Naruto went behind a tree and changed. He folded the kimono Saki had changed him into and gave it back. "Thanks for these, too. Ummm, Saki-san, may I have my forehead protector?"

"Oh, no. Midori is still asleep. I don't know where she put it."

"If that's the case, then it can't be helped."

"Catch, kid!" Tsuneo said, tossing him the protector.

Naruto scurried to catch it. He stared at it for a time. "So, this is my village's emblem."

"Where did you find it, honey?" Saki asked.

"Midori put it inside the Crescent Moon's case. Imagine that? Midori is already treasuring your headband, kid! He might have already fallen in love with you!" A rock hit his head. All three of them looked in the direction of its origin and saw Midori, her Crescent Moon in tow.

"I'll never fall in love with a monkey! And, Dad, why did you put me to sleep?"

"Yikes! Explain for me, honey!" But Saki was already leading Naruto away. "Don't leave me here!"

"Dad…"

Tsuneo cleared his throat and pretended to be all business. "We must hurry. Time is precious." A rock, much larger than earlier, buried itself in his face. Blood ran out his nose.

Midori stomped away. "Why is it always me that needs to put up with an idiot father?" She called out to Naruto. "Hey, you! You had better know what you're doing. I swear to kill you if something happens to Hiromi."

"Yes, of course, Midori-san! By the way, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. Pleased to meet you." He offered a shake. Midori just passed him by. Saki shrugged when he threw an inquiring look at her.

"What are you waiting for?" Midori asked, when she felt no one was following.

"Wait a while, honey," Saki said. "Naruto?"

"Okay." Naruto bit his thumb, formed hand seals, put his thumb on the ground, and called out, "Summoning Technique: Kinjo, Cujo!"

The two wolves appeared bigger than before. Kinjo's white fur looked healthy and clean, his good eye sharper (an eye patch covered his left eye), and his stance more sturdy. Cujo looked fearsome, his expression more confident and fierce.

"Hi, Kinjo," Tsuneo said, approaching. "Looking good, old dog."

"If you want a rematch, and Naruto-sama permits it, I'm ready anytime," Kinjo said with a booming voice. "A death match would be preferable."

"Don't joke around. You're a hundred years too early to talk like that to me."

"Guys, cool down. We're here to get Hiromi back," Naruto said.

"Oh, yes. Saki, I'm sorry it came to this," Kinjo said. "I was desperate."

"I'm sorry, too, Saki-san," Cujo added.

"Hey! Why only her? What about the father? The father!"

"Shut up, Dad!" Midori demanded. "Let's go now. It's your fault in the first place, so you don't deserve an apology."

"Mom! Midori…Midori is mad at me!"

Kinjo let out a smirk. "I apologize, Tsuneo." Saki, Naruto, and Cujo smiled when they heard that. "Let's go and get little Hiromi back."

Tsuneo hid a slight blush. "Well…if you put it that way."

Naruto tied his forehead protector around his head. Kinjo lowered his head to let Midori ride on him. Saki jumped on Cujo's back. Naruto and Tsuneo would go on foot. Then, they were off.

…

Inside the cave, bodies of dead wolves had been scattered around. Bakuryu, now in his normal wolf form, lay on his side, panting. It was hard for him to speak. "Where…are…you…taking them?"

In the darkness, a voice replied back. "Good thinking in Kinjo's part. You helped us a lot. Don't die, yet, okay. They'll be coming anytime soon. I'll just borrow the girls for a bit. If they want them back, tell them to go to the Temple of the Descending Dragon." Laughter echoed afterwards, a foreboding sound of an imminent danger.

"Setsuko!" Bakuryu cried. But he was too late. The presence had already vanished.

_To be continued…_


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9: The True Measure of Strength

Tsuneo signaled Naruto to slow down a bit and let the two wolves get three trees ahead. When they got the distance, he spoke. "Hey, Naruto," he began. "I sure hope you don't do that again."

Naruto frowned. "Did I do something wrong?"

"You were asking Saki about our mission, weren't you?"

"What? No! Why would I do that?"

"Saki told me that, at first, you were asking her unimportant questions. I find it absurd. Don't try talking it out with me, Naruto. I hate people who stab me from behind."

"Eh? You're wrong, Tsuneo-san. I was sincere with what I asked."

Tsuneo cocked an eyebrow. "I don't get what you're trying to say."

Naruto gulped and looked at Saki. "To tell you the truth, her kiss affected me. I don't know what happened to me, but it just came. Did she feel that I was nosing in a bit too much? I'm sorry. I'll apologize to her later. I respect the need of secrecy for your mission because I'm a shinobi, too. Honest, Tsuneo-san, I didn't have any intention of circling around our conversation to get anything out from her. I don't even have that cunning to do that."

Tsuneo stared at him for a long time and then laughed. "I like you, kid. Keep that up. You know, to tell you the truth, I've never seen Saki this happy before."

"What do you mean? She seems contented to me."

"I've known Saki for a long, long time. I know when she is happy about something or not."

"That's hard to believe. You mean me getting washed up here made her happy?"

"When I brought you to my house, she was very excited. If not for the two girls, she would have volunteered to be by your side until you woke up."

"I don't know what to say about that, Tsuneo-san." After a moment, Naruto added, "Don't you feel anything for her? I mean, you've been together for a lifetime. Haven't you thought of, you know?"

"Marrying her? Being her lover? No, Naruto. I've never thought of that possibility even once."

"Why is that? Saki-san is an attractive lady."

"You know, with that slowness, I might forget that you managed to pass through Midori's blade with your sheer speed. Saki is a sister to me. A daughter, even. I loved my wife. No one will ever replace her in my heart. Saki knows that, too. And even if I change my mind, I'm not her type. She has shown it a lot of times, already." Naruto became quiet. Tsuneo smiled. "Are you thinking that she has had a sad life?"

"Ah—no! I mean—"

"It's okay. I can see it, too. But her sadness roots from her natural urges. Even though she is a superb kunoichi, she is still human. No matter what you do to stop them, no human can control those natural urges when they surface. Let's go. They're getting far." He glanced at Naruto. "You know, I'm happy that you're an honest kid." He increased his speed to catch up to the wolves.

…

The light atmosphere disappeared the moment they reached the cave. They had seen the drops of blood on the bushes, but didn't try to make much out of it, until they saw the bodies of wolves, torn limb to limb, scattered outside. Kinjo and Cujo bolted into the mouth, almost toppling their riders from their backs. Tsuneo and Naruto followed them.

"Setsuko! Hiromi! Damn it. Bakuryu!" Kinjo cried. "Where are you?"

"Shit," Tsuneo hissed. He was pale like everyone.

"K-Kinjo," called out a faltering voice from the darkness.

Kinjo moved towards the voice and saw Bakuryu lying on his side, bloodied and barely holding onto life. "Bakuryu!"

"G-go…Temple…Descending Dragon…"

"All right. I understand. Hang on, my friend." He turned around. "Naruto-sama—"

But Naruto was already beside Bakuryu and doing the summon contract. In seconds, Bakuryu disappeared into smoke. Naruto stood up, grim. "Do you know the way, Kinjo?"

"Yes. The Temple of the Descending Dragon is just fifteen minutes from here. I'll take you there."

"Kinjo-san…" It was Midori.

"I know, little girl. I'll never forgive myself if something happens to them. Let's move." Kinjo led the way into the woods. They were faster than earlier. Trees blurred past around them.

They reached the foot of a long, stone stairway. A wooden arch, old and gray, served as its entryway. It was as if entering it would give you difficulty going back. But that was not the most ominous of all. It was the _atmosphere_. It was thick and dark like the texture of mud, only transparent. They were sure someone—or more appropriately, something—was creating it. Thick leaved trees hung their branches on both sides. Because it was dark, the surrounding felt eerie and disarming.

"Let's go," Kinjo said, obviously the most concerned among them. "Let's not waste time."

They moved. However, just one step into the entryway was enough to make them feel dizzy. The atmosphere was not thick at all. It was _solid_. Solid like sand, heavy like metal shavings. It was hard to breathe. Midori lost her consciousness. Tsuneo could withstand it, but still he was having a hard time. The wolves slowed down. Their feet became heavy. Naruto had no choice. He activated his sage mode; a red highlight appeared around his eyelids; his irises became gold. But despite of that, only a few of the atmosphere's weight had gotten off his body.

"What is this place?" he asked. "Why is it hard to move?"

"This is a highly saturated killing intent," Tsuneo said. "A demon's killing intent. Instead of instilling fear, it has been transformed into a physical entity—a gravity of some kind."

"Then I should counter it with chakra—"

"No," Tsuneo and Kinjo said at the same time.

"Master, you'll get killed if you do that," Kinjo continued.

"Kinjo's right. That's what the creator of this ambience is waiting for. When you open your chakra faucets, this force will break down your senses. You'll lose your mind…then your life."

"So you're saying that…"

"We'll do it with our muscles."

"Honey…" Saki began but couldn't finish. She fainted on Cujo's back.

"Saki-san!" Naruto blurted out.

"Don't worry, Master," Cujo said. "It's better for them to sleep. Their subconscious defense system will wake up and ward off this anomaly. It's us that you need to think about."

"It's a long way," Tsuneo said. "It'll take hours until we reach the top."

Panting now, Naruto said, "Then we had better get started."

"This feeling reminds me of my past enemies. I hope they're not trying to get back on me."

Like devotees on a pilgrimage pushing their way against the fierce winds of the desert, they climbed up the stone steps. Tsuneo was two steps ahead most of the time, but Kinjo would always catch up to him. There were a few instances that Naruto blacked out on his feet. It was just fortunate that Cujo was beside him, so when he lost his balance, the wolf supported him. Before they knew it, the sky became purple, then indigo, then bright blue. It was already dawn when they finished three-fourths of the stairway. The sun had already risen when they reached the red wooden arch that signaled the end of their long, exhausting trek.

The square in front of the large temple was huge. It was some kind of a training ground where a whole village could be established on. The rusty smell of iron was in the air, a proof that blood had flooded in this misleadingly grand place once upon a time. Statues of muscular men in armor with war-tired scowls stood in front of the temple, guards of honor until forever.

Then their eyes fell upon the lone figure of the sitting monk at the foot of the three-step stair leading to the temple.

The bald monk had fist-sized, black marble beads around his neck. He held a staff with three-gold rings at the tip by his side. He was clad in a simple black and red robe. Slowly, he raised his head and opened his eyes, revealing a dreadful glare an average killer would not want to stare into.

Tsuneo was used to these kinds of eyes. He glared back. "Where are the girls? Your life depends on your answer."

The monk lethargically rolled his eyes towards Tsuneo. "The girls' life depends on you. Don't provoke me."

Tsuneo bit his tongue, but it was clear that he was itching to kill the bald monk.

"What do you want?" Naruto demanded. "Why are you doing this?"

The monk did the slow rolling of eyes again. "You're that kid?"

"What do you want?"

"Are they kidding me?"

"Mister, please. Let go of the two girls. I'll do anything you want."

The bald monk sighed. "They're kidding me." He hit the ground with the butt of his staff. The large door behind him opened to reveal an apparatus. Setsuko and Hiromi lay unconscious on the platform; their heads were in line to each other. Raised on one side was a heavy-looking, semi-circular blade attached to a pole that would swing down through the necks of the girls once it was released, like a killer pendulum. It had rust on its surface, obviously from blood. A basket waited below the platform for the severed heads of those who would be executed.

"Oh my god," Tsuneo blurted out. He started to go towards the guillotine.

"I say it a second time. Don't provoke me."

Tsuneo stopped on his tracks. "What do you want? Please, I'll give anything! Please. Release them and you have a deal. If you want my life, I'll gladly give it to you. Please, have mercy on the girls." His lips were shaking in fear and anger.

"I'm not interested in you," the monk said. "I'm here to play with the kid."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

The monk produced an hour glass from his robe and showed it to his guests. "I'll go direct to the point. This hour glass lasts for twenty minutes. That is your time limit. Pass through me and you can save the girls. Once all the sand is in the bottom, I'll tap my staff against the ground, the blade swings, the girls die."

"Let me do it," Tsuneo said, cracking his knuckles. "I'll be _glad_ to do it."

"This is your last chance. Don't provoke me. The kid will do it. And you three with the ladies…" He raised a hand and Tsuneo, Kinjo, and Cujo were pushed outside the red arch. "You stay outside."

Tsuneo tried to go back, but he was stopped by an invisible barrier. Terror filled his face. He hit the barrier repeatedly, but his punches just rebounded back at him. "Shit! Shit!"

The monk mouthed, "Don't provoke me."

Tsuneo stopped his struggle. "Why is this happening?"

"All we can do is trust him," Kinjo said.

"That baldy is a Sennin-level fighter. No, maybe more. His killing intent barely kept us alive. The kid will die and then—if something happens to Hiromi and Setsuko, I swear to rip that baldy apart."

"We all have the same thing in mind. But now, we have arrows at our throats. One tap of his staff and our daughters will perish."

"Go get him, kid! Show him who you are! Shit. I hope there's more in him than meets the eye."

"I hope so, too."

…

"So," the monk said. He began to turn the hour glass.

"Wait," Naruto said. "Tell me first why you are doing this."

The monk stared into Naruto's determined eyes. Then he smirked and went on turning over the hour glass anyway. "You have twenty minutes."

Naruto pulled out a kunai and created ten shadow clones. They began their attack. The monk watched as the small army approached. He was impressed to see Naruto use a high level shadow clone technique. Three of Naruto's shadow clones threw their kunai towards the monk. The monk just watched. The three kunai were about to reach him, when suddenly they froze in midair and dispersed into dust.

Naruto was shocked. "Stop!" His clones stopped.

"Why did you stop? The sand will not wait for you."

"Shut up!" He was thinking.

"You're like a leaf hovering down to the ground. You're too slow." The monk sighed. "Okay. I'll give you three handicaps. One." The thick atmosphere disappeared. Naruto felt light on his feet again. Breathing became easier, too. "Two." A shadow clone appeared before the monk. "And three, you win if you make me stand from this place."

Naruto looked at the hour glass. There was still plenty of time. _Calm down. First, I need to know what technique he is using._ He instructed his remaining clones to attack. Three of his clones attacked with bomb tags. The moment the kunai reached their target, they exploded. However, the attack didn't do damage. Even the monk's clone hadn't attempted to dodge the explosion. Another three dashed and stopped to form a semi-circle in front of the monk's clone. A blur of hand seals, a positioning of fingers in front of the mouth, and then a surge of fire came out. The monk's clone just swiped the flame away like swiping a silk curtain. With his free hand, he made a fist. The cobblestones shattered beneath Naruto's clones, and they were buried underground. The monk's clone spread its arms and brought them together, creating a loud clap. The heads of Naruto's remaining clones vibrated and burst into smithereens.

"Force," Tsuneo muttered.

"What?" Kinjo said.

"Force. That baldy has transformed the nature of his chakra into force."

"How can that be possible? Force is not even an elemental nature."

"Until Jonin rank, ninjas are only taught five natures of chakra namely wind, lightning, fire, water, and earth. But the world of Sennins is different. Sennins can create their own chakra nature based on what they know—force, magnetism, even phenomenon. The incredible killing intent. This barrier. The invisible force he is using to fight with the kid. Naruto has no way of winning. The kid is spit against an ocean."

"I get your point. Even the baldy must know it. But what is he aiming for?"

Amidst the commotion, Naruto succeeded in concealing himself under the ground. Suddenly, he shot out from the ground and attacked the monk's clone with a Rasengan. The monk's clone dodged the ball of swirling chakra with the least motion possible. But the first Naruto was just a clone. The original shot from behind. "Rasengan!" He thrust the ball into the monk's clone's spine. He believed he hit.

"Yes!" Tsuneo blurted out. "Nice diversion, kid!"

But Naruto hadn't hit. The monk's clone had stopped the swirling ball with his left hand, catching it backhand. He twisted with incredible speed, hitting Naruto in the face with his free hand. Naruto flew towards the barrier and bounced off.

"Kid!"

"Master!"

The monk inspected the swirling ball. "Oh. This technique is ingenious. By just changing the shape of chakra into strands and manipulating the strands to swirl in a controlled and coordinated manner, you can make something of massive potential damage."

"You haven't seen anything, yet," Naruto said, struggling to get up.

"Yes, I know. That's why I haven't killed you, yet. I could have already killed you twenty times."

"The monk is not lying," Tsuneo said. "The clone…it has been in that same spot ever since."

Concern befell Kinjo's eyes.

Naruto activated sage mode that had long gone dormant while they were climbing up. The monk hadn't seen it, yet, and was surprised.

"Oh. A sage. You're a sage," he said. "Now, this is getting interesting."

Naruto ran toward the monk's clone while making a series of hand seals. He distracted the clone by a barrage of punches and kicks that the latter confidently blocked with amazing hand speed. While doing this, a clone appeared behind Naruto and attacked with a Rasenshuriken. Naruto stepped out of the way, and his clone hit the monk's clone in the chest. The monk's clone tried to grab the Rasenshuriken, but the wind engulfed the clone, dispersing it into nothing. Suddenly, there were two explosions from the temple's walls that created large holes. After a while, two Naruto clones flew out almost at the same time from these holes. The monk's clone appeared before Naruto, sending him a merciless frontal kick. Naruto rolled repeatedly over the cobblestones. His two clones dispersed into smoke.

"Did you think I would overlook that? You tried diverting my attention by attacking my clone head-on, while two of your clones snuck in from behind to save the girls. I didn't notice at first because the two clones had been coated with wind chakra and were invisible. But I _smelled_ them. You cannot hide anything from me with such pathetic nature transformation technique. By the way, I didn't break any rule. I created the substitute clone _after_ you destroyed the first."

Naruto pushed himself up from the ground. Blood dripped out from his mouth and nose. He started to laugh.

Kinjo was appalled. "Naruto-sama is laughing."

"That kid. Has he gone crazy?" Tsuneo said.

"You are not invincible as what I thought," Naruto said. A cut appeared on the monk's face. Blood flowed from it. The monk rolled his eyes towards the small wound. "I thought I wouldn't be able to touch you." The monk stared hard at him.

"When did it happen?" Kinjo asked. "Did you see it, Tsuneo?"

"I don't know. This kid…"

From behind him, Saki came to. "Honey?" She saw Naruto. "What's going on?"

"Father…" Midori murmured.

"Take it easy, Midori," Kinjo said.

Midori looked around. "Naruto-san!"

Saki hopped off Cujo's back. "Hey, could anyone tell me what's going on?"

"That baldy is holding Setsuko and Hiromi hostage," Tsuneo said. "Naruto is fighting to get them back."

"What are you doing? Help him!"

Tsuneo put his hand over the barrier. It rippled like the surface of water. "We cannot enter. There is a chakra barrier around the place."

Naruto straightened and tightened the forehead protector on his head. "I will hit you cleanly next time."

The monk turned his head around. A kunai had hit the stairway behind him. _He coated this kunai with wind chakra, and since a kunai doesn't have a chakra of its own, I didn't detect its presence. _"Now that it comes to this, I'll give you a choice." He put out another hour glass. This one was smaller. "This is a ten minute hour glass. I'll make you choose between the girls. I'll let go of the girl you choose. After that, I'll cut your time to ten minutes. Based on my count, you've already spent over three minutes. I'm getting _bored._ I don't want to waste my time here anymore. I'll give you enough time to think." He set the running hour glass on its side, stopping the sand from moving. "One hundred and twenty seconds."

"Is he crazy?" Midori blurted out. "If Naruto-san chooses anyone, he will have insufficient time to save the other. It's like killing one of them!"

"Setsuko…" Kinjo growled. "This is my fault. Because of my selfishness…"

"No one expected this to happen," Tsuneo said. "But we really are in a pinch." _What will you do, kid?_

"Naruto-kun…" Saki muttered. Tears of nervousness welled up in her eyes.

Naruto smirked. "As if there is a choice! Remember this bald head! I'm not the type who abandons friends."

"Friends? You barely know them," the monk said. "Now choose."

"I've made my decision. I'll save them. Both of them." The people watching outside had to gasp when they heard the conviction in his voice. "If someone depends on me, that someone is already my friend. The people behind me…the girls behind you…I'd be happy to give my life for them."

Those words were powerful to the extent that Saki and Midori couldn't stop their tears, true to the extent that they didn't doubt him. Kinjo, Cujo, and Tsuneo were somewhat relieved after hearing him. All of a sudden, they saw a light of hope in the darkness of the ordeal.

"Then, I'll not hold back," the monk said, turning the hour glass in place. "I'll murder you."

"He is not joking this time," a male voice said behind Naruto's companions.

Everyone turned around. The voice came from a handsome, long-haired man clad in red samurai armor. On the collar of his armor, there was an insignia that looked like a two-headed trident: the crest of the Senju clan. With him were two women. One had a long, curly, blonde hair and a lovely but blank face. Her eyes were as dull as tempered iron. Her name was Reiko. The other was a pretty, black-haired girl. She was frowning. She would have been beautiful if not for that scowl on her face. This girl was Chiasa. Both of the girls were in tattered cloaks.

Inside the barrier, the monk's clone had begun his attack. Naruto couldn't even defend from the clone's blinding speed.

"That guy is pathetic," Chiasa said. "I can't believe Yuudai has chosen him."

Tsuneo approached Hashirama and glared at him. "Are you the one who orchestrated this, Hashirama?"

"It will be no use…" Hashirama's eyes caught sight of Saki. He gulped. Suddenly, he was behind Saki and was fondling her breasts. Even Tsuneo hadn't seen him move. "Oh. Responsive as always. Nice, nice."

Saki sent him an uppercut. He was hit. He fell on his back. Saki kicked his stomach. "You do that again and I'll kill you. Can't you grow up? Geez, you're too old for things like this."

Hashirama smiled. "Okay. Now, that's better. You know that I hate gloomy atmospheres. Help me up." Saki pulled him up. Suddenly, he embraced Saki and touched her butt. Saki punched him.

"Hashirama, what are you planning?" Tsuneo asked. "If something happens to the girls…" He shot Hashirama a deadly glance. Hashirama got the point.

"Don't worry. Nothing will happen to them."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"I'm just interested in the boy."

"Why did you need to involve the girls?"

"I promise you that nothing will happen to them. So, close your mouth and watch."

"You're saying that you're just testing the boy?"

"You could put it that way."

"He is fighting a Sennin! How can you test him like that? He will just die!"

"Then he'll die."

"What?"

"If in twenty minutes he dies, I can't help it." Midori opened her mouth to say something, but Hashirama cut her. "I trust him. Your boyfriend can make it."

"He's not my boyfriend!"

Hashirama laughed. "From what I can see, he will be sooner or later." He winked at Saki. "Right, Saki-chan?" He shifted his eyes towards the fight. "Trust me. I just want to confirm something."

"What will you gain from this?" Tsuneo asked.

"You know why I still exist despite my age, Tsuneo. I have to kill a certain man. From that, I assume you can figure the rest."

"We're just wasting our time here," Chiasa said. "Yuudai must have made a mistake, Hashirama-sensei. Look at him. He can't even fight back. Man, why did I waste my time even coming with you?"

"Shut up, Chiasa. If you don't want to be here, you can go. Let me watch this till the end."

Chiasa was right. Naruto was getting bludgeoned. The speed of the monk's clone was two levels higher than Naruto's speed in Sage mode. But Naruto stood up every time. He never lost courage against his overwhelming enemy. Time passed by. There was only a few remaining sand in the upper part of the hour glass. By now, Naruto's brows had deep cuts that profusely bled. His lips had erupted as well. His sage mode had already gone dormant. In desperation, he made another attack. But he fell.

"This is enough!" Saki told Hashirama. "Please. He can't even stand up anymore."

"Look for yourself."

Saki was surprised to see Naruto struggle to get up.

"I don't go back on my words—" Naruto couldn't finish for the monk's clone had planted a heel on his head. His face hit the hard ground.

The monk's clone reached out and grabbed Naruto's hair. The clone pulled him up so that the monk could see his face.

"You're so weak," the monk said. "You'll die here. But, before that, I want you to know how weak you really are. Watch how those girls lose their heads."

"No…please…"

"Stop him, now!" It was Midori confronting Hashirama. "What you are doing is pointless! He can't fight anymore. It's obvious who has won."

Hashirama didn't answer.

Naruto looked at the hour glass and panicked. He produced a kunai and began stabbing the monk's clone. But it was futile. Like before, there was a force that deflected his blows. He looked at the hour glass again. The amount of sand was shrinking fast. He struggled to get out from the monk's hold. All he managed to do was escape from the hand grabbing his hair. The clone was still holding his left arm.

"Don't struggle anymore," the monk said. "It's no use. You're just wasting your energy."

Naruto made his chakra flow into the kunai and stabbed the monk's clone with it. He had the same result. "Shit! Let go!"

"Pathetic. Utterly pathetic," Chiasa said, shaking her head. "Poor kid. It will haunt him forever."

Looking at the hour glass, an idea came into Naruto's mind. _I think I have no other choice. _"Tsuneo-san, take care of the rest!" Naruto stuck a tag on the monk's clone's chest. It was a petrifying tag that could freeze a body for two seconds. He accumulated his chakra at his feet.

"What are you doing?" The monk said. "You cannot escape my clone unless you cut your arm—don't tell me…!"

Naruto grinned. "Too late." He swung the kunai with chakra over his upper arm and cleanly cut it through. He activated the petrifying tag and launched forward, leaving his arm in the grasp of the monk's clone. The people outside gaped in disbelief. Even the monk's eyes widened.

The monk tapped his staff on the ground and the semi-circular blade began its motion. Naruto knew that he was too late. The blade was only a foot away from cutting off the girls' heads. He reached out and tried to pull the blade back. However, the force and the stunning sharpness of the blade cut through his palm. Determined, he moved in front of the blade. He pushed the pole with his wounded hand, decreasing its speed. But, its momentum pushed forward. The blade's point went through his body. He wedged his feet on the ground and yelled, forcing everything he got against the blade. It was still moving. Much slower now, but still moving. The point of the blade passed through his back and growing. Tears of frustration flowed down his cheeks. "Damn, I'm so weak," he said. At that, Naruto lost consciousness. The last grain of sand dropped at the bottom.

Hashirama put his hand on the barrier, and it disappeared. "Reiko!" He and the blonde girl sprinted forward. The others followed after them except for Chiasa and Midori. Chiasa still couldn't believe what she had seen. Midori, too.

_To be continued…_

Author's Note: Yup! He's Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10: The Truth Behind The Lies

"Zuko, destroy that goddamn blade!" Hashirama commanded. Zuko, having already stood up even before the last grain of sand fell, only had to raise his hand. From the tip of the pole, the disintegration of the guillotine's blade began. Before Hashirama and company arrived where Naruto was, the disintegration had reached the blade.

Tsuneo caught Naruto as he fell forward. Saki went to the girls, checking on them. To conserve energy, Kinjo and Cujo decided to change to ordinary-sized wolves. Yuudai screamed in the sky. He dropped from flight and attacked Zuko, clawing the monk's head with his strong talons.

"All right! All right! I'm sorry!" Zuko said as he shielded his bald head from Yuudai. Yuudai flew towards the platform, beside Hiromi's head, and expressed his restlessness by stepping side to side, stretching his neck, and hissing at Naruto, asking if he was okay.

"It's all right, Yuudai. Nothing to worry about," Hashirama said. "Reiko, got his arm?" Reiko nodded. "Zuko, show us inside."

"The temple is sacred—"

"I don't fucking care!" Hashirama said.

"Y-yes. Of course, Hashirama-dono."

"Come, Tsuneo. Kinjo and Cujo can come inside, too."

…

After a tense five hours, Hashirama came out from Naruto's room. Tsuneo and his family sat side by side on the wooden floor. Hiromi and Setsuko slept behind them. Chiasa and Zuko sat together near a large column. Kinjo and Cujo lay next to the sleeping girls.

Hashirama closed his eyes. "We were too late. He…" He crumpled his face as if he was trying to suppress tears. "He died. I mean, it couldn't be helped. The wound was fatal." Hashirama was eyeing Midori and Chiasa. Midori almost got up from her seat. Chiasa looked away. "Pity. He was one in a million. Midori could have been happy being his girlfriend. Right, Midori?"

Midori bowed her head. "What are you talking about?"

"Or Chiasa could have found a suitable rival. Even a love interest."

"Quit it, Hashirama-sensei," Chiasa said. "I'm in no mood for jokes."

"Hashirama-sensei, the arm is responding well," expressionless Reiko said, going out of the room. She looked around. "I see. I'm sorry. He's dead."

"Don't take it back just like that!" Tsuneo said.

Hashirama let out a nervous laugh when he felt two, dreadful auras behind him and saw Chiasa's glare. "Well—" Midori and Saki hit him in the head.

"Reiko-chan, is he all right?" Saki asked. "What's his status?"

"He's dead."

"It's all right, Reiko," Hashirama said. "We're busted. Tell them."

Reiko nodded. "The operation was a success. He's out of immediate danger, but he needs to rest."

Saki and Midori sighed.

"Saki, Midori, go back to your seats. I got something to say."

"You had better refrain from jokes, Hashirama-san," Midori said.

"No jokes this time, my cute Midori. Take your seat."

When everybody was seated, Hashirama began. "I want the boy in my team, but right now, his over-all skill is not yet acceptable for me. His technique reservoir is limited. He can only maintain his sage mode for about ten minutes. His nature control of chakra is poor." He paused. "Zuko."

"Yes, sir."

"You're going to train him."

"I understand."

"I'll come back to test him after two months. I expect a big improvement from him."

"I'll do my best, Hashirama-dono."

"Tsuneo, I thank you for taking care of him for the past two days. But it ends here. Zuko will be taking care of him from now on."

"What?" Saki said.

"Do you have a question, Saki?"

Saki looked away. "N-nothing."

"Kinjo."

Kinjo raised his head.

"I also want Setsuko in my team. Her bloodline limit will be a big help."

Kinjo considered this for a while. "Okay."

"I want you to take her to the Village of Dogs. Make her a sage."

Kinjo stood up. "Are you crazy? She will only die in there!"

"She will not. I know that you know that, too. Stop being overprotective. As a contracted beast, you can't stay here for a long time. Even if you don't want to, you need to go back to your world in a regular basis. She needs to be strong enough, so that, even if you're over there, she can protect herself. That is for the best."

Kinjo looked down.

"Every now and then, I check on Setsuko. I'm confident that she can be a sage. Don't waste her potential with your misplaced concern. Besides, I know that you will not let her die in your world. I'll even bet that she'll be thrilled with the idea."

Kinjo lay down on the floor. "I'll ask her when she wakes up."

"I'm sorry if this is too sudden, but you should already know the purpose of my visits. Right now, something is boiling in Kogiwara. Since all of you here are my friends, I'm doing everything in my power to keep you safe. By keeping you safe I mean preparing you for battle."

"How about me?" Midori said. "Don't you want me in your team?"

"You can't. You're too weak."

Everyone gaped at his frankness.

"He didn't mean it, Midori," Tsuneo whispered. "You're strong."

"At least for you," Midori said. She stood up and walked away.

"Why did you have to say that?" Tsuneo said.

"Because she needs to know the truth. Actually, Tsuneo, I'm wondering what you've been doing all these years. Why did Midori turn up like this?"

Tsuneo looked away, clenching his jaws.

"I expected that she would be a master lancer when I met her again. A world class warrior. But I'm disappointed, not only in her, but also in you, Tsuneo."

"You don't have any idea how difficult it is to raise a daughter," Tsuneo said.

"I had daughters. But I was more a mentor to them than a father. I knew that we couldn't be a normal family because we were the Senju. They grew up tuned to that standard, too. In the end, they became great warriors as what they should be."

Tsuneo couldn't answer.

"Midori took up the lance because she wanted to be strong. And she needs to be because of her destiny. Yet here you are, molding her into what you _think_ she should be, not into what she was born to be."

Tsuneo kept silent.

Hashirama sighed. He stood up. "I'll go talk with Midori. Later, I'll go talk with you and you." He pointed at Saki.

"Wait!" Tsuneo said.

"I know. I'll keep it casual. You don't have to worry about anything."

…

Midori was training at the dojo she had accidentally discovered in the second building. Sweat filled her face which gleamed under the sunlight coming in from the high windows up the wall.

"You seem serious with that," Hashirama said.

"Are you here to laugh at me?"

"I'm not here to laugh at you or apologize for what I said. I know that you yourself are not satisfied with your skill. Am I right?"

Midori hung her head.

"It's not too late, Midori."

"I want to be in your team, Hashirama-san. I want to become stronger."

"I know that, too, but you can't."

"Because I'm weak."

"Yes. It's the chief reason, but not entirely that. Don't forget, the boy is weak as well."

"Then why can you allow him to join and not me?"

"The other reason is because you have a family that will worry for you. Hiromi is still too young. Your parents are still alive."

"But I want to be stronger."

"You still can. You just need to show your father that you're serious with what you want." He put his hand on Midori's hair. "If you could impress me when I came back, I might change my mind and let you in."

…

Hashirama took Tsuneo and Saki to a small shrine in the back of the temple. The place was full of trees and thick bushes. Swans swam in the man-made lake filled with water lilies and lotus flowers. With the sun shining through the leaves, the peaceful water turned into a deep green gem. Hashirama led them to a small table.

"Take a seat," he offered.

Saki took a seat.

"I better off standing," Tsuneo said, lighting his pipe.

Hashirama sat across Saki and observed her. "Saki is glowing."

"Don't talk as if you don't know why," Saki said. "Get to the point."

Hashirama chuckled. "Don't be a rival to Midori, okay. That girl doesn't have the sexiness you do. If you fight her head on, even if she's the prettiest girl I've ever seen in my life, she will lose."

"Ha ha. Very funny. You know, I've been restraining my anger. Don't make me hate you for real."

"What do you know about the boy?" Tsuneo asked.

"I don't like your tone, Tsuneo."

"Is he connected with that "something boiling in Kogiwara" thing?"

"What?" Hashirama laughed. "Of course, not! Meeting him was just a coincidence. On our trip here, I made Yuudai scout the skies. When he didn't come back even after I called him a few times, we searched for him. We found him hovering above our boy in the river. I was intrigued because it had been a long time since Yuudai showed interest in someone, so I told Chiasa to check if he was still alive. When she said he was, I told her to wash him up to the shore near your home. And that's where everything began. In other words, he is just a bonus."

"If that's true, that means you've been spying on us for the past two days," Saki said.

"Yes."

"I can't believe you." Saki stood up. "I can't listen to you anymore. Excuse me." She left.

"I'm also upset with what you did," Tsuneo said. "You even went using Hiromi and Setsuko just to convince yourself that Naruto is worthy of becoming your underling."

Hashirama smiled. "Say what you want, but I made sure that nothing would happen to the girls in the process. Anyway, let's put that aside. Let's talk about what I came here for. Tsuneo, I want you and your family to go to Hibarashi-dono's estate. Zhang has already mobilized a task force to hunt you down and Saki."

Tsuneo perked up. "Does he know about Midori and Hiromi?"

"I don't know. But just to make sure that they'll be safe, we need Hibarashi-dono's power and influence. You go down there and hide."

"What is happening in Mushashi-dono's side? How is the Alliance?"

"I still can't find their hideout. But there's no need to worry about them. Those two can take care of themselves."

Tsuneo pulled a drag from his pipe. "I can't believe everything is happening too fast."

"You should have already anticipated this. There is only less than a year remaining before Midori's eighteenth birthday. The Alliance is surely making its own moves, too. Tsuneo, teach Midori the complete Dancing Lance Style. The time is coming for her to fight her way up to her rightful place. Kogiwara needs a strong queen."

"I still can't imagine Midori going through that hellish training I went through. As the father who has raised her…"

Hashirama became serious. "Remember that you're only a surrogate father, Tsuneo. You're duty is to raise Mushashi-dono's daughters so that they will be acceptable leaders of Kogiwara someday. If you have to treat them like boys to complete that task, treat them like boys. If you should inflict pain on them to make them tough, inflict them pain. If they die in the process because they are weak, let them die."

"What?"

"Kogiwara needs strong leaders like Musashi-dono and Sayuri-dono. Kogiwara doesn't need pampered brats who cannot stand by themselves. Don't waste their potential just because you don't want to hurt them. They're special girls. You don't have the right to make them ordinary. I hope I'm clear on that." He looked at Tsuneo. Tsuneo looked back, but he couldn't stand his gaze. Tsuneo turned away.

"I understand," Tsuneo said.

"You won't have any difficulty anyway. I saw her train earlier. Her movements were excellent. She has already grasped the basics. The only problem is her resolution to take the blade for its true purpose. Teach her that. What she is now is someone with voice but only sings in the bathroom."

…

Tsuneo went to the second building to watch Midori. Midori's movements were graceful and precise. Her way of twirling, of handling the pole, of slashing, everything was correct. But, Hashirama was right. Her movements were lacking the ferocity, the thirst for blood. Midori's Dancing Lance at the moment was only good for show. She would die in two seconds in an actual battle.

"Midori," he called out.

Midori stopped and straightened. "Dad."

"Will you do everything to become stronger?"

Midori's face lit up. "Are you serious, Dad?"

"Yes, but promise me no complaints."

"Of course! I'll endure no matter how painful the training is."

"Okay. I'll prepare a program." He turned his back and started to walk away. Behind him, he could hear Midori's suppressed squeals of excitement.

…

Saki came back inside to where Hiromi and Setsuko slept. Chiasa, Reiko, and Zuko were not there. Only Cujo and Kinjo remained where they had been. Kinjo looked up.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

Saki slumped down on the floor. "He was there, but he didn't do anything to stop that fight."

"What do you mean?"

"Hashirama was watching nearby when you attacked us last night. If he really wanted Naruto-kun, why didn't he take him the first time he found him in the river? He had a medical ninja with him. He could have just taken him and spared us _this._"

Kinjo looked down.

"It's because he wanted to end the stupid conflict between Kinjo-san and Tsuneo-san," Chiasa said, approaching. She sat at the column and leaned her back on it. She remembered the day they had discovered Naruto's body in the river. She had suggested to Hashirama that it was better if they hauled the body from the water. However, instead of agreeing, Hashirama told her that he could use the boy to solve the problem between Kinjo and Tsuneo. He added that if that didn't work, then they would just take the boy from whoever had gotten him first. "He was tired of their situation and knew that it would just create problems for them if a war really began."

Saki said, "He could have just summoned Kinjo and his gang back if he was that concerned."

"He didn't want to endanger his friendship with Tsuneo-san. He promised Tsuneo-san long ago that he would not stick his nose in their business. There was no other way but to use a third party. Also, there was another reason."

Saki cocked an eyebrow.

"He wanted Midori to meet him."

Saki frowned. "Why?"

Chiasa shrugged. "I don't know. Anyway, no one among us expected something like this to happen. Hashirama-sensei only wanted to frighten him a little and make him realize his current strength. Zuko was already prepared to stop his drama when the boy suddenly cut his arm. Everything tumbled uncontrollably afterwards."

Saki remembered Zuko's stiff movements as if in a panic.

"Has Hashirama-sensei apologized to you, yet?"

"No."

"I apologize in his behalf."

"I can't forgive him that easily. He put Hiromi in danger."

"He will do anything but to put Hiromi or Midori in danger. We are all working for the same master. We are mercenaries under oath. He made sure that they would not sustain a scratch above all else."

"You saw it, too. The blade swung. If Naruto was not there to hold it off…"

Chiasa pulled out a kunai and threw it towards Hiromi. The kunai exploded into smithereens.

Saki stood up. "Why did you do that?"

"Can't you see? Zuko's chakras are still around the girls. Even a blade of diamond will shatter against this invisible cloak." She let a second pass. "Hashirama-sensei had covered every hole before he went on with his plan. Everything could have been perfect if not for the boy's recklessness."

"Mom?" It was Hiromi.

"Hiromi!"

"Hiromi-chan," Kinjo said.

Hiromi's eyes widened. "Kinjo!"

Kinjo padded towards her and licked her cheek. "It's Kinjo-san for you, little girl."

Chiasa sighed. "Excuse me." She stood up and went inside Naruto's room. No one noticed her.

Saki hugged Hiromi.

"Mom, what's Kinjo—"

Kinjo cleared his throat.

"—Kinjo-san doing here?"

"He is our friend, now," Saki said.

Hiromi squinted at Kinjo. "Really? Just the other day, he was planning to eat onii-chan. And his friend kidnapped me!"

"No, Hiromi," Kinjo said. "That was a misunderstanding. I was—"

Saki interrupted. "They thought that your onii-chan was an enemy. Right, Kinjo?"

"Y-yes. I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure you would not be in danger."

"Onii-chan is not an enemy!"

"Yes. I was wrong. I'm sorry."

"Hmmm…promise me that you will never do that again."

"I promise."

Hiromi jumped up and hugged Kinjo's neck. "I missed you, Kinjo-san."

"Me, too, Hiromi."

Hiromi looked around. "Mom, where are we?"

"We're in a temple. Hey, Hiromi, do you want to see your uncle Hashirama?"

"Uncle Hashirama is here?"

"Yes."

"Hiromi-chan!" Hashirama said, entering from the back door, spreading his arms.

"Hashi!" Hiromi got off from the futon and ran into Hashirama's arms. Hashirama picked her up and hugged her lovingly. Instantly, Saki's doubts disappeared when she saw this.

"Wow, Hiromi, you've gotten big!" Hashirama said. He was carrying Hiromi in one arm.

"Of course! I eat well. Hashi, did you know that I finished reading the book you'd given me?"

"How was it?"

"It was good! The characters…"

Saki watched on as Hiromi told Hashirama about the "Fifty Bamboo Hermits." She was relieved that everything had been explained to her. But, in the back of her mind, a growing anxiety itched. For now, it just felt like imagination. Only that she couldn't deny that it was there.

_To be continued…_


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11: Waking Up and Drowning in Change

Chiasa entered Naruto's room and slid the door behind her. Naruto slept on a futon at the center of the room. His face had been wrapped with bandage so that only the holes of his nose, his eyes, and his lips showed. There was a splint tied against his left arm. That arm was covered with bandage, too, only thicker compared to his right arm. Reiko, who was sitting on the porch, turned to her. She nodded at her and resumed watching the sky. Chiasa stared down at Naruto. Naruto's forehead protector lay on the right of his head. She frowned at it.

"This is the emblem of Konoha," she said.

"It is," Reiko said.

Chiasa picked up the forehead protector. "Is this the reason Hashirama-sensei wants him in the team?"

"I don't know. It's surprising you missed it."

"I didn't pay attention that much. I wasn't interested in him."

"If he was an enemy, it would have been dangerous."

"I know." She studied the symbol of leaf on the metal. "This is impossible. Konoha is very far from here. He could have been floating for days. How did he survive that?"

"Some anomaly is inside his body. He has another form of chakra existing in him. During the operation, I noticed that that chakra caused abnormal regeneration of cells. I'm sure it was the reason he survived the river and the fatal wound the fight with Zuko had inflicted on him."

"Another form of chakra?"

"I'm not familiar with it, but Hashirama-sensei obviously is. Speaking of Konoha, isn't your clan from that village?"

Chiasa put down the forehead protector. "Yes."

Reiko stared at Chiasa. She knew that Chiasa would not speak about the subject anymore. "Has Hashirama-sensei called for me?"

"Huh?"

"Has Hashirama-sensei called for me?"

"No."

"Are you here to check on the boy, then?"

"Of course, not! Some kind of reunion was happening outside. I needed some place to escape to."

"Who came?"

"No one came. The little girl woke up."

"I see." Reiko stood up and went to the door.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

"Outside. I'll be right back." She went out and closed the door.

Chiasa looked at Naruto, unsure of what to do. Shrugging, she decided to go to the porch. She lay down, putting her hands behind her head. The afternoon sky was clear and almost cloudless.

…

Hashirama came into the temple from the garden. Hiromi was sleeping, her arms around his neck. Saki heard his footsteps and looked up. She was sitting at the column. She stood up and approached Hashirama.

"She has the brain of Musashi-dono," Hashirama said, handing over Hiromi to Saki. "But she has some of your feminine sensibility. Sayuri-dono will be delighted to know that one of her daughters didn't inherit her brusqueness."

Saki got Hiromi. Hiromi stirred. Saki danced her back to sleep.

"You have become quite the mother," Hashirama said.

"Raising two daughters could make you one whether you like it or not." She laid Hiromi on the futon. "I apologize about my rudeness earlier."

Hashirama smiled. "It doesn't matter. Anyway, if someone asks for me, I'm gonna be scouting the forest. I'll not be back till evening."

"Okay."

Hashirama walked to the front entrance. In the prayer room, he found Zuko in meditation. He put a hand on the monk's shoulder.

"Hashirama-dono," Zuko said.

"Yuudai has seen something. I'll go check it out. Take care of the place."

Zuko nodded. Hashirama vanished like the wind.

…

As time passed, Chiasa got bored. Reiko was still outside. She wondered what was delaying the golden haired medical ninja. It had been almost thirty minutes now. Anyway, whatever it was, it was not her business. Besides, watching over a sleeping patient was not that bad. The afternoon was peaceful, and the warm rays of the sun that slipped past the roof were pleasant on her skin. She closed her eyes and tried to take a nap. Several minutes later, she felt the air stir over her face. She opened her eyes and saw a mummy. Blinking the sleep away, her mind cleared and realized that it was the boy, staring intently at her with his blue eyes and holding a kunai against her neck. She began to get up.

"It's better that you stay down, miss," the boy said. "I just got a couple of questions to ask."

She didn't know how he had gotten near her without her noticing it. But she was undaunted. Zuko had overwhelmed him in the fight. She was sure she was several folds stronger than him. She made the slightest of distractions with her hand, and that was all she needed. The boy pecked a glance at her hand. Instantly, she was behind him, holding a kunai against his neck.

"Put that kunai down," she demanded. She waited for him to obey. But he did not.

The boy whirled in a blinding speed and employed a Taijutsu take-down on her. They fell on the floor. The boy grabbed her right wrist behind her and pressed on her left arm with his elbow. The boy immobilized her without even using his left hand. She looked at him, surprised.

"Please, I just need to know where the girls are."

"Get off me, now!" she commanded. "Get off! Get off!"

She could see that the boy was in pain, but he kept his hold firm. "As you can see, I can't do that. I can't trust you, and this is the only way I could talk with you without you having every advantage to kill me."

She didn't like that, submitting to someone weaker than her. She knew that the boy would not last long. She struggled to further weaken him.

"Don't force me to use something nasty on you. You just have to tell me where they are and we're okay."

She let a smile slip her thin lips to taunt him. "I will not answer anything. You can't keep your hold forever, anyway. Sooner or later, you'll let go." Her eyes met his eyes and she saw how they pleaded her not to push him into a corner. She ignored it.

"I guess I don't have a choice." He leaned down and kissed her. That was her very first kiss. Her mind ran wild.

"Now, we're even." He let go and sat. He peeled a skin-like membrane from his lower lip and showed it to her. "This is coated with diluted cyanide. In eight minutes, you will feel your heart slowing, and in ten minutes you will lose consciousness. Five minutes after that, you'll die. I have the antidote. If you kill me, no matter how thorough you search me, you'll never find it."

She was silently crying as she stared at the ceiling. She hadn't heard anything he said. All that was on her mind was the indignity the kiss had brought her.

"Hey, miss, I said I just poisoned you. Don't you even care?"

She sat up and grabbed his neck. The boy struggled to take her hands away. "I'm gonna kill you! Do you know what that kiss means to me, huh? You perverted bastard!" The boy was turning blue, now. She had nothing in mind at the moment but to kill him. Capillaries began showing in the white of his eyes. He was clawing at her, pushing her chin away, employing a strangulation of his own, weak as it might be. But she held on, and she could feel his life slipping away from him, second after second.

Suddenly, the door slid open and Reiko got in. She saw what was happening and hurriedly pulled Chiasa away from the boy. "What are you doing?" she said. It was a wonder how she could ask that without any inflection.

"Ask that to that son of a bitch! He suddenly kissed me!" Chiasa said.

"Stop this at once," Reiko said. "I'm a medical-nin. You'd better keep that in mind."

"But he kissed me! Do you know what it means to me? You know where I came from, Reiko. Don't side with him!"

"I'm sorry," the boy said.

"Your sorry won't do anything, bastard!" She paced the floor. "Why did you do that, anyway? What, you fell in love with me, too, like those lowly perverts on the streets? You found me irresistible? You thought my lips were so delicious you couldn't help lowering your head and having a taste?" She blushed despite of herself. "I can't believe this. A useless person stole my first kiss."

"Go out of the room and cool down," Reiko suggested.

"No. Until that bastard tells me what his intention was, I'll not leave this room."

"I thought to use that to scare you off," the boy said. "I knew I would not win against you in my condition. I didn't know how I would get information from you any other way. The monk was strong. I knew you were strong, too. I was scared that I was lying captive here while my friends needed help somewhere."

"So you kissed me? You thought that I was that kind of woman—a harlot, an easy-to-get bitch? You thought that you could get me to talk by using your charm?" She inhaled a lungful. "_Are you an idiot_?"

"I said I poisoned you. You were not listening to me."

"You poisoned me?"

"It was a bluff to get you talking."

She approached and collared him. "You got the nerve to do that? You were underestimating me?"

"That was a wild throw."

Reiko gently put her hand on Chiasa's arm. "You will stop doing that to _my_patient."

Chiasa glared at Reiko. "I'll never forget this, Reiko."

"Feel free to do so. Go out of the room, now, or you might pop a vein and end up sleeping beside him. I'll wrap you up to him naked. I promis_e_ that."

Chiasa straightened up, made two steps towards the door, and whirled back to face Reiko. "I don't understand you. Why are you siding with him? He took advantage of me!"

"I don't side with anyone. I merely do what I'm supposed to do."

"Arrrgh!" She stomped out of the room and slammed the door shut.

…

"I'm really sorry about that. I didn't know she cared so much about her first kiss," Naruto said.

"Don't worry about it. Chiasa is from a clan that adheres to strict tradition and codes." She glanced at Naruto. "Especially about marriage."

Naruto looked up, gulping. "Marriage, you say?"

"Chiasa is only sixteen, but her prowess in the art of fighting can already be considered at the level of Sennins. It's not just because she wants to be strong for the sake of becoming strong. She wants to be strong because she doesn't want to get married."

"What are you getting at?" He was becoming so nervous he could feel his feet getting cold. "Are you saying…?"

"Yes. A kiss in her clan is considered sacred. It happens when a woman accepts the protection of a man or a man interested in marrying her succeeds in defeating her in battle. It is not a form of greeting like in other countries. For her clan, it involves divine intervention."

"Ehhhh? Oh, my, no! I didn't…"

"Don't worry. She will realize it sooner."

"I can't believe a clan as strict as that exists."

"You are from Konoha, right?"

"I think so. Tsuneo-san told me that the emblem in my forehead protector signified Konoha."

"You have amnesia?"

"I guess so. I remember faces and everything about being a ninja. But the faces, I don't recognize who they belong to."

"The part of the brain that is related to instinct cannot be easily damaged. I assume you started being a ninja at a very young age, so you managed to retain most of what you had learned in the craft of shinobiship. Anyway, Chiasa's clan was originally from Konoha. They are called—"

The sliding door slid open. Chiasa shot needles with her eyes. "Stop, Reiko."

Naruto suppressed a squeal. He changed subject, instantly. "Ummm…"

"My name is Reiko, Hitatsu Reiko."

"Reiko-san, yes. Ummm, could you tell me where Tsuneo-san and his family are?"

"He is not yet in the team. I don't want you telling him anything about me." Chiasa approached and sat near Reiko.

"Have you cooled down, yet?" Reiko asked.

"There are still bubbles in my blood, but I can control myself now."

"Good. About Tsuneo-san and his family, Naruto-kun, they are outside. They are fine, nothing to worry about."

"Oh, you know my name."

"Tsuneo-san told it to us."

There was a short silence. "Reiko-san, if it's not too much to ask, could you tell me where I am and what really happened?"

"Of course. Let's start when we found you in the river…"

…

Setsuko felt itchy from the blanket covering her body. It was not like the usual feel of tanned hide she had made for herself from the bear she had killed a long time ago. She scratched her neck and arms, a spontaneous motion her body automatically triggered in sleep. But that itch didn't go away. It only worsened. She opened her eyes this time. When the sleepiness went away, she realized that she was not in the cave. She bolted up.

Kinjo raised his head and the twinkle in his eyes revealed his joy in seeing Setsuko finally waking up. "Setsuko!"

"Father? Father, you're alive!"

"Yes, I am, Setsuko." He nudged her lovingly with his head.

She hugged him. "I'm so happy to see you. I thought I lost you."

"I will not die that easily. How are you? Do you hurt anywhere?"

"No." She looked around. "Where are we?"

"We're inside a temple. Everyone is here, too: Tsuneo-san and his family, Hashirama, and my new master."

"Hashirama-oji-san is here, too? What's happening?" She had no recollection about what had transpired inside the cave last night.

Kinjo realized this and rode along. "You know your uncle Hashirama. When he visits, he always prepares some kind of surprise."

"This is his idea of surprise?"

Saki, who was taking a nap beside Hiromi, stirred and woke up. "Set…Setsuko?"

"Mama!"

Saki got up and threw her arms around Setsuko. "I'm glad you woke up, dear. I missed you."

"Missed you, too, Mama."

Saki inspected Setsuko's face. "When you were with us, you were not this pretty. You were too skinny and dirty."

"Stop it, Mama. Long time we haven't met and you're flattering me, already."

"Why, it's true! You've grown very lovely. It's rare to see pretty redhairs around here. Why not live with us again? I'm sure your father won't object, will you, Kinjo?"

"No. I won't object if she chooses to do so."

"But how about the pack?"

Kinjo looked pained. He didn't know if there were survivors from Zuko's attack last night. "They can live by themselves. Now that I have a new master, I won't be able to look after you anymore. It's best that you live with your Mama and sisters again."

"But Mama…I fought with Midori."

"Don't worry. It was all because of a silly—" she shot Kinjo a look that the wolf evaded, "—misunderstanding."

"Are you sure?"

Saki smiled. "Of course, honey. You're always welcome in my family."

"Then, all right. I'll just have to say goodbye to the pack."

Kinjo and Saki shared a look of concern.

"Y-yes," Kinjo said. "We can do that, later."

"Father, I want to meet your new master. He's the boy you found in the river, right?"

"Yes. He is still sleeping. Maybe you can, later. For now," Kinjo pushed her back to the futon, "you should go back to sleep."

"But I've been sleeping since last night! See, I even don't know how we got here."

"It's not yours to worry about. You were just so tired to notice anything." He bit the edge of the blanket and pulled it to Setsuko's chin. "Go to sleep."

"But I'm not sleepy."

"Let me help you with that," Saki said. She produced a jade comb from her kimono. "Do you still remember this?"

"The comb! But…but my hair…"

Saki went to Setsuko's side. She lifted Setsuko's head on her lap and began combing Setsuko's hair. "Don't worry. This comb can comb through the worst kinds of hairs. Now, close your eyes."

After just a few moments, Setsuko let out a light snore.

Saki giggled. "She's not sleepy she says. Babies."

…

Yuudai screeched from the sky. Hashirama was perched on a branch of a tree and watching two suspicious men walked in the direction of Tsuneo's house. One of the men had a large boomerang tied on his back while the other had an iron chain wound around his body, so that his arms looked like they were restrained to zero mobility. This man's body was also wrapped in bandage so he looked like a walking mummy. The man with the boomerang was reading from a map. Suddenly, the man in chains stopped.

Boomerang said, "What's the matter?"

"Some_thing'_s out there." Chains had a creepy voice as if from disuse.

Dust whirled in front of them, and then when it had passed, Hashirama appeared.

Boomerang gaped. "You are…"

"How did you know this place?" Hashirama was grim. "Who's the person behind this?"

"We are bounty hunters. Connections are easy to have," Chains said.

"I was sure we weren't being followed. This is just impossible."

"Use your imagination."

"Tell me!" Hashirama roared.

Chains chuckled.

"You are _the_Hashirama Senju, right?" Boomerang said. He was beside Hashirama. Hashirama was surprised. "I'm a huge fan!"

Hashirama tried to grab Boomerang, but Boomerang disappeared.

The chain wound off from Chains body. The tip of the chain began to soar towards Hashirama. Fast.

"Got you!" Chains blurted out.

Hashirama's body turned into white powder. The true Hashirama was in the trees at the moment, dealing with the branches, making a clear route towards Chains. He knew that Chains was more dangerous. He would fell Chains first.

"Man, you're fast," Boomerang said.

He was shocked. Boomerang could actually match his speed.

Boomerang threw his boomerang at Hashirama. It was fast. Hashirama had to make a branch grow from a tree to defend himself. The boomerang cut through the branch, but Hashirama was not there anymore. He appeared behind Boomerang and made wooden spikes grow out his body. However, before the spikes could reach Boomerang, the bounty hunter had already escaped. Hashirama retreated onto a branch, feeling his surroundings. From the distance, he heard loud crackles of breaking branches. The boomerang was coming back. He made five seals, spread his arms, and clapped. Large branches of trees shot out from everywhere, converging towards the boomerang. The boomerang's momentum cut through without stopping, but, eventually, the bio-locomotion prevailed and ensnared the boomerang like a Venus flytrap closing in on a fly. Boomerang appeared in front of his ensnared weapon. When he touched it, it parted to reveal eight handles of swords.

"You're good, you're good! If you only know how happy I am right now!" He laughed with maniacal glee. He pulled the eight swords out and threw them in air. "Thanks, thanks, thanks, for letting me kill you!" He kicked six swords in the air and caught two. The six swords darted towards Hashirama with speed faster than sound. A thick tree grew in front of Hashirama, but the blades easily destroyed the tree. However, the swords didn't find their prey. Hashirama had already disappeared. Boomerang frowned.

"In terms of speed, you're too young to defeat me," Hashirama said.

Boomerang's grin vanished. He looked down at Hashirama's hand on his rib cage.

"In terms of technique, you're a flea."

Boomerang was obviously horrified. "No, no, no!" He tried to attack with his swords.

He was too late.

"In terms of ruthlessness, you're nothing."

Boomerang's body exploded as a tree grew out from his body like an unsatisfied parasite hoping to find another host. His blood splashed on the surrounding trees.

Hashirama stared at Boomerang's body. "Now, I know why you were so fast. Fucking…I only know one person who uses this kind of technique." Hashirama didn't waste time.

"You took so long to kill him," Chains said.

"I'm gonna ask you again. Who's behind this? Who told you our location?"

"I'm gonna answer that again. Use your imagination."

Chains used his chain to attack, but now that he was not holding back anymore, Hashirama easily caught it with his left hand. He crushed it like brittle wood, but it didn't end there. The chain began to transform into wood. The plague crept along the chain, gaining acceleration by the second. In no time, it reached Chains and the anomaly began to eat him.

"So, you've seen through me. You know that I'm already a corpse not deserving mercy," Chains said.

"I know that there is still some conscious mind in you. If you have information, tell me, so that you'll not be useless in your death."

A large chunk fall off from Chains face as the infection continued to crawl. "The persons nearest you are—" he began but couldn't finish for he suddenly erupted into black ash.

The ash flew past Hashirama's face, and he smelled the dead flesh of the once living man. Right then and there, he sat down, pulled out a piece of paper from his sleeve, and used his blood to write a short message. He signed it Storm Shadow, _Arashikage_. He made Yuudai carry his message to his village.

More than a kilometer away, in the shadows, Shitto was giggling like a lunatic. Spit was raining down his clothing. His eyes swam in bloodlust and insanity. He cut the threads of chakra on his fingers he had used to make the corpses his puppets. His harks echoed in the darkness, their sound ominous enough to push animals away.

_To be continued…_


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12: True Deal

The moon had risen up quite high in the sky when Hashirama came back to the temple. He arrived on Tsuneo smoking at the entrance.

"Hashirama," Tsuneo said.

"Where is everyone?"

"They're already in their own rooms." Tsuneo stood up. "Come. Saki had cooked us something. You must be starving."

"Okay. Bring the food to the garden. I'll call the team. I have something important to tell you."

Tsuneo grew concerned. "Did something happen?"

He shook his head. "I'll tell you when everyone is gathered."

Tsuneo did what was asked of him. He, on the other hand, went room to room and aroused Reiko, Chiasa, and Zuko. Midori had joined Setsuko and Hiromi inside a room. They were fast asleep. He couldn't help but smile at seeing Midori sprawled uncouthly over the futon.

"Saki, wake up," he said.

Saki stirred and got up. "Hashirama-san. What's the problem?"

"Come to the garden. I have to tell you something. But first, fix Midori. Her panties are showing."

Saki gaped at Midori's boyishness even in sleep. "This girl, tsk, tsk. Really." She tucked her inside the blanket.

"I'll get going. I see that you need to change."

Saki looked at herself. She blushed when she saw that she was only wearing her underwear. She glared at Hashirama, covering her breasts with an arm. "Pervert."

Hashirama chuckled. "Where are the wolves?"

She pulled the blanket over her. "Reiko told them that she had healed the pack. They went down to check on them."

"Oh, yes. I forgot to tell them that. Before we showed up, Reiko had insisted on restoring them back when we passed by the cave. Medical ninjas. They have that habit." On his way to the gardens, Hashirama noticed the door of Naruto's room sliding open. Naruto came out. "Oh, Naruto-kun! Good evening! How are you?"

"You must be Hashirama-san?"

"Yup!"

Naruto quietly stared at him.

"What's the matter? Is there anything on my face?"

"S-sorry. I just thought that I had met you before."

Hashirama smiled, meaningfully. "Do you think we could have been relatives in our past lives?"

Naruto frowned.

"What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I was looking for the comfort room."

"Comfort room. Just go straight down this hallway then turn left."

"Thank you." Naruto bowed his head and began to walk away.

"Naruto-kun."

"Yes?"

"You can find the garden easily from there. I want you to come to the garden." He didn't wait for a reply. Naruto watched him as he left.

…

The meeting place was at the shrine where he had taken Saki and Tsuneo earlier that day. Tsuneo had set a bowl of soup, a large slice of bread, and roasted fish on the table. Reiko, Chiasa, Zuko, and Saki were seated on the railing while Tsuneo was sitting at the table. Hashirama sat in front of the food.

"Mind if you eat with me?" he said. Everyone refused. "Okay. Then, thank you for the food!" He began eating. "Whoa, this soap is amazing!"

They let him be, waiting for him to start the conversation, but he just went on stuffing his mouth with food. They tried to tell him with their expectant faces that they were starting to get bored, but he just ignored them. Finally, Chiasa spoke.

"Weren't you gonna tell us something?"

"Yes. I'm just waiting for someone."

"Who?"

"He'll show up eventually." He saw Naruto coming from the temple via the stone pathway to the comfort room. "Speak of the devil."

Everyone looked at Naruto.

"The kid? Hey, sensei, he's not officially _in _the team, yet," Chiasa said.

"No. He already is. It's better that way. He's in. He fucks up. I'll kill him myself. If you want, you can do that."

"Oh, I didn't know that this was official. Sorry. I haven't peed for almost one day," Naruto said.

"I don't know why you had to report that," Chiasa said.

Naruto was getting irritated with her. "I thought that you would want to know."

Chiasa glared at him. "Do you want to die?"

"Chiasa," Hashirama said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "And Naruto-kun, please refrain from saying unnecessary witticisms."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"That's all right. Now, shall we begin?" He checked if everybody's attention was on him. "I encountered two puppet corpses in the forest. Except for Naruto, I know you're familiar with the technique."

"I think I've heard of that, too," Naruto said.

"No, I'm sure of that. These puppet corpses were not those puppets you usually see. Usually puppeteers who use actual human bodies as their weapons reconstruct the human body into a mechanical device more like a doll. The puppets I encountered were intact human bodies, half-dead."

"Someone can do that?"

"It only means one man," Chiasa said.

"Yes. It's Shitto the Jester," said Hashirama.

"The _Left_ _Wing _is on this? It can't be."

"Hey, I can't understand anything. What's going on?" Naruto said.

"Shut up, rookie," Chiasa said. "This is serious business."

"Tsuneo will brief you later," Hashirama said. "So, everybody, listen up. I don't know if the Left Wing is already hunting us down. Shitto is a lone wolf and he's only in the Left Wing for the money and power. But I'm not sure. Right now, Yuudai is on his way to get some reinforcements. Reiko and few of my best men will hunt Shitto down. Chiasa and I will stay close to Hibarashi-dono's estate to guard Tsuneo's family. Naruto, I want you to talk with Kinjo about Setsuko. You will stay in this temple and train for three months. Both of you. Is that clear?"

"Clear? Nothing is clear!" Naruto said.

"I'll take it as a yes. Starting tonight, we will be taking shifts in guarding the place. Chiasa, Zuko, and I will stand watch at night. Saki, Reiko, and Tsuneo will stand watch in the morning."

"When are we going down to Hibarashi-dono's?" Saki asked.

"As soon as my men arrive. They will take at least three days depending on the weather." He stood up. "For now, be very vigilant. Always pay attention to the person next to you. Always think that our enemy can preserve the normal functions of a human body. The person next to you might already be a walking corpse."

"Ehhh? We're dealing with zombies?" Naruto said.

"Yes," Hashirama said in a creepy voice.

Naruto screamed and began pulling at his leg. Vines were growing from the floor, winding around his right leg. "Take them off me! Take them off me!"

Instantly, the tension disappeared.

Hashirama smiled. He made the vines recede. "I'm just playing with you. So, that ends this meeting." He left without telling them his bewilderment when he found out that one of his subordinates might be double-crossing him.

…

The group began to part.

"Kid, come with me," Tsuneo told Naruto. He took him to the big cherry tree two buildings away from the garden. Under the moonlight, the flowers of the cherry tree were almost white. The petals scattered on the ground were like big icicles, icicles that would not decay into water but into soil. He stopped and lit his pipe. "I didn't expect that things would go this way. I'm sorry to drag you in our chaotic world."

"I'm in shock, to tell you the truth," Naruto said. "Last night, I was confident telling Saki-san that it would be quite an adventure for me finding my way back home. I didn't know that you were in the middle of a big war."

"It's not yet war. Wait until we get there. So, where do you want me to start?"

"I want to know first where I am. What country is this?"

Tsuneo went to an exposed root and sat on it. "This is the Country of Mountains, _Sanmyaku._ Sanmyaku shelters five kingdoms namely Kogiwara in the north, Nue in the east, Ine in the center, Taka in the west, and Ichiba in the south. Kogiwara and Nue have the largest territories. They are also the most powerful in terms of economy and military strength. Twenty-six years ago, they warred for Ine, which is the chief producer of rice and other agricultural products in this country. They are at truce right now because of an agreement that they will equally get forty percent each of Ine's harvest. Taka and Ichiba don't care much if they can only get ten percent each of Ine's harvest. They are small kingdoms, anyway. Presently, we are in Nue."

"Is Konoha far from here?"

"What I know is you have to cross two countries to get there. Finding you in the river suggests that you might have been taken here by the water through the _Antlers_, a complex labyrinth made from branching of rivers in and out of countries. You must have fallen into Hades. It's the river along Konoha's boundary."

"I see. It will take me months to get back, then." He sighed. "Anyway, could you tell me now what village are you from? And Hashirama-san, too, if that is not too much."

"Hashirama came from Morigakure, the Hidden Village of Forest. I came from Ishigakure, the Hidden Village of Stones. My real name is Shibari Tsuneo, Saki's is Matsuda Saki."

"Where are those villages located?"

"I will not answer that question and you know why."

"Sorry. Maybe you can tell me now who Midori really is."

"Hiromi and Midori are daughters of the former rulers of Kogiwara, Musashi-dono and Sayuri-dono."

Naruto gaped. "They're royalty?"

"Yes. They are the legitimate heiresses of the throne. They are from the Akabari clan."

"So that's why I get the feeling that they are special people."

"You mean that they're too pretty to be our children." Tsuneo laughed.

"Partly," Naruto said, riding along. "But what happened? Why are they in your care?"

"Seventeen years ago, Kagitora, Musashi-dono's cousin, orchestrated a coup d'état. He succeeded with his coup and became king, while Musashi-dono and his family left the kingdom and retreated somewhere to hide. Kagitora believed that Midori died during the invasion, so he didn't make any attempts to search for Musashi-dono for a long time. Musashi-dono entrusted Midori to me and Saki so that her life would not be in danger whatever happened. For seventeen years, Kagitora hasn't shown interest in hunting down the former king and his family. But, now, he is moving. I'm not sure if he already knows that Midori is still alive, but Hashirama told me that the current Ministry of War of Kogiwara Zhang Li has sent a task force to hunt us down."

"Is this task force the Left Wing Chiasa-san was talking about?"

"Yes. The Left Wing is part a large group of Black Op Shinobis. Every one of its seven members is a Sennin. They are a force to reckon with."

"Sennins…"

"Sennin is a ninja rank. I assume that you know that."

Naruto let out a goofy laugh. "I think I forgot."

"It's not something your amnesia could have affected." Tsuneo sighed. "Sennin is the rank a ninja receives when one, he or she has mastered a thousand Shinobi techniques, two, he or she has completed one hundred Class S missions or ten Class SS missions, three, he or she has created one hundred original techniques in any branch of Shinobi Art, and four, he or she has achieved internationally significant feats like liberating a country, dissolving an international threat, or changing the global trend in the world. The Sennins in the Left Wing mostly fall under the third category. They are unbelievably…unbelievably strong. That was why Hashirama was so alarmed when he encountered Shitto's puppets in the forest."

"This Shitto is a member of the Left Wing?"

"He is. He is a mad scientist who has experimented on humans. He is on par, when it comes to greed and brutally, with the internationally known criminal Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru?"

"He was from Konoha, one of the Legendary Sannin."

"I don't remember him."

"Are you sure?"

"Look, Tsuneo-san, you don't know how frustrated I am right now with my condition. I'm not faking it."

Tsuneo smiled and pulled a drag from his pipe. "All right, all right. I didn't say that you were faking anything. Okay. Let's go back to the topic. It's safe to assume that Kagitora has already learned that Midori is still alive, and he has contracted the Left Wing to hunt us down. There will be bloody battles ahead of us. Kagitora will not stop until he kills Musashi-dono and his entire family, especially the heiresses." He glanced at Naruto. "You're not officially involved. You can run away if you like."

Naruto frowned. "What do you mean I'm not officially involved? You are my friend, right? Midori-san, Hiromi-chan, and Saki-san, too, right?"

"What if we are?"

"Then, that settles everything. I'm in. Besides, I want to become stronger. This is my chance to level up, so that when I find my way back to my village, I'll be strong enough to be Hokage!" Naruto caught himself. "Hokage…" Slowly, his face brightened. "Yes, I remember, now! I want to become Hokage, the strongest ninja in Konoha!"

"Strongest? That's a pretty impressive dream."

"Tsuneo-san, I've remembered something about myself."

"Of course, you have. Everything will eventually come back to you. Just wait and don't rush yourself."

"Whoo! I'm getting excited about this."

"Pipe down, will you? You're quite energetic even though you were beaten up badly this morning."

"Sorry." Naruto scratched his hair. "By the way, who is Hibarashi-san?"

"He's my uncle in Tanimori. He is a wealthy landlord. He has his own army and some of the veterans of the Great War are working for him. Hashirama—even me—believes that Hibarashi-dono can protect Midori for the time being."

"For the time being? What do you mean by that?"

"Musashi-dono is just waiting for Midori to celebrate her eighteenth birthday. When it comes, he will start a war against Kogiwara to make Midori queen. Right now, Musashi-dono is still gathering forces. That's the reason why Hashirama has been busy looking for competent recruits."

Naruto grinned. "He thinks I'm competent?"

"To tell you the truth…" Tsuneo shook his head. "No."

"Ehhh?"

"For now, maybe, but I believe in you. I know you can reach his standard."

"Hehe. Thanks. I'll do my best."

"Well, I guess that's it. That's the basic things that you need to know." Tsuneo stood up. "Become stronger in three months. I expect that you will impress me when we meet again."

"Sure do. I promise you that."

Tsuneo smiled and started away.

"Hey, Tsuneo-san, I'm just curious. If Hiromi-chan is Midori-san's sibling, does that mean that Midori-san already knows that you and Saki-san are not her true parents? I mean, if Midori-san is seventeen, she would have been old enough to find it weird that Saki-san didn't become pregnant with Hiromi-chan, right?"

"Ah, that. We sent Midori to my uncle, and she lived with him for one and a half year. We were informed by Hashirama in advance that Sayuri-dono was pregnant, so we had time to make a little drama to fool Midori. We told Midori that we had an important job abroad, so we needed to leave her to her granduncle for a while. We made her think that during that time, I impregnated Saki and born her a baby sister. When she saw Hiromi, she forgot every suspicion she had and accepted everything we said."

Naruto smiled in admiration. "That's pretty cool."

"Hey, Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"Go and make up with Chiasa. It will be disadvantageous if you let the enmity between you for long."

"But, she doesn't want to listen to me."

"Think of something. You make Saki fall in love with you. I'm sure you can come up with something."

"I didn't intend Saki-san to fall for me!"

"That's what I'm talking about." Tsuneo glanced at Naruto. "Just be yourself and talk to Chiasa."

…

That night, Naruto couldn't sleep. He watched the ceiling as he unconsciously rubbed the crystal on his chest. There were so many walls ahead of him, walls that would make his journey home difficult and exciting. An image of an old man in red robe and wide, diamond-shaped hat with the character for "Fire" appeared in his mind. He was sure that the old man had been Hokage. A woman appeared next. She was beautiful and voluptuous with golden eyes and long, blond hair. He was sure that she was the current Hokage. He just couldn't name them. He knew they had been a part of his life, but he couldn't place when and how. As he continued in his thinking, the beautiful face of a pink-haired girl came into his mind. Maybe she is Sakura, he thought. His heart beat fast in his chest. Then the face of a handsome man appeared in his mind's eye. His pitch-black eyes stared at him. His black hair waved in the wind. As he struggled to remember, Chiasa's face overlapped the man's image. He couldn't help but notice that they had the same eyes, cool and opaque in their blackness. He rubbed the pendant on his chest. He rubbed and rubbed until something came to him. He lifted the pretty crystal and inspected it. He suddenly bolted up in his futon. He knew now what to do.

He found Chiasa watching the moon in the sky at the wide court in front of the temple. "Chiasa-san," he said.

Chiasa whirled, startled at his sudden call. She frowned when she saw him. "You? What are you doing here?"

"Chiasa-san, I just want to apologize about what happened earlier."

Chiasa turned to go. "However much you apologize, I won't forgive you. Go back to sleep."

"Chiasa-san! Please, wait!"

Chiasa made a fast whirl and attempted to attack Naruto, but she stopped on her tracks. Naruto was holding a necklace in his hand. The beauty of the crystal caught her attention.

"I want to give this to you as compensation."

"Don't treat me like a prostitute!"

"I feel that this necklace is very important to me, and it's something that I need to find my way back home. I want to give this to you as a sign of my sincerity. Chiasa-san, I didn't mean to steal your first kiss. I was desperate and afraid waking up alone in a room with someone I didn't know beside me. I'm really sorry."

"If that necklace is that important to you, then I can't accept it. It'll just make me feel guilty."

"But the kiss I took is very important to you, too, right? This is just fair."

Chiasa stared at him for a long time. "Are you serious with that?"

"Yes. I don't want to lose someone because of a misunderstanding."

Chiasa perked up as if electricity went through her spine. "Fool! Don't suddenly say things like that! Lose someone…you don't even know me!"

"Then, will you tell me who you are?"

"You're starting to get on my nerves, kid. Don't try me."

Naruto approached without any hesitation. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I heard from Reiko-san that we are of the same age. I'm also sixteen. I was really hoping that we could get along well." He reached out around her neck, and she could not do anything but to stay still. "I want to be your friend, Chiasa-san." He backed a step. "See. It suits you."

She blinked at the crystal hanging from her neck. Naruto was like clear water. All she could feel from him was serenity.

"I'm sorry," Naruto said.

Chiasa let out a loud sigh. "Okay, okay! I'm getting sick of your apologies. But, I can't forgive you that easily. I'm an Uchiha and I'm loyal to my clan."

"Uchiha…"

"I guess you're familiar with it. My clan originally came from Konoha."

"I guess so…"

"You're unsure? Maybe if I show this, you'll remember." Chiasa showed her Sharingan in one eye. The Sharingan had five pupils, one central and four around it, inside a red iris, different from what Sasuke had, which, in adult form, had only four pupils.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Sasuke…"

Chiasa blinked and her Sharingan disappeared. "Do you remember, now?"

Naruto put a hand on his head. "I remember someone having that kind of eyes."

"That's a start. Anyway, my clan is very particular about marriage. That _kiss_," she glimpsed at Naruto, "happened because it was fated to happen."

"What? But, Chiasa-san, can't we just forget about it? No one saw us do it. No one will stand witness." A beat. "Besides, I don't believe in fate, only in choices."

"Then it was your choice to kiss me?"

"Yes, it was, but not in the sense that I was choosing you as my wife. I told you I was desperate."

"Then it's the same. It's easier to think that it was fate. Listen. The only way for me to undo that is to kill you."

"Ehhh? Hey, let's don't go overboard here."

"That's the only way for me. You have three months to become stronger. I will ask permission to fight you from Hashirama-sensei."

"But why should it be a death match?" Naruto said.

"It should be that way. For us, letting a man kiss us is the same as submitting ourselves under his authority. We are compelled to lay our lives on the line to protect and serve that man as long as he lives."

Naruto glared at the ground. "It's a rather harsh way to settle things. But," he looked at her, "I accept your challenge. However, I have a different condition. If I win, you will forgive me and become my friend."

Chiasa smirked. "I will win this fight, kid, even if you train for three years."

"You're not sure about that."

"Your necklace." She began undoing the lock.

"Keep it. I want you to have it to give me peace of mind." He turned to go. "It compliments you, by the way."

Chiasa watched as the dust-like particles inside the crystal danced around. When she glanced up, Naruto was gone.

…

Hashirama had been watching them from a tree. He peeled off the concealing blanket from his body. Chiasa saw him.

"Sensei…"

"That was a good move. That way I could ascertain if he was strong enough to be in the team. I'll allow your match." He glanced at the crystal. "I didn't know that that amulet was still alive."

Chiasa closed a hand on the crystal. "What do you mean?"

"Maybe I could tell you a little secret. That amulet was the one that convinced me that Naruto should be in the team. That crystal was mine."

Chiasa frowned in disbelief. "Yours?"

"Pretty, isn't it?"

"What do you mean? You were from Konoha?"

"Umm…I'll get to that, eventually. May I have that amulet?"

Chiasa backed a step. "What? No! It's mine!"

Hashirama cocked an eyebrow. "Yours?"

"I-I mean, he gave this to me. And don't expect me to believe your story! Hmph!" She walked away.

Hashirama watched her for a while, and then he erupted in laughter. "Oh, Chiasa-chan is beginning to become a woman." A rock flew towards him. He dodged it and went on laughing.

"Sensei!"

_To be continued…_


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13: The Mercenary

Kinjo emerged from the stair, eyes bright. He was obviously in a good mood. Zuko was sweeping the front of the temple.

"Kinjo-san, good morning," Zuko greeted.

"Hello there, monk."

"Geez, have you still a grudge against me? Call me Zuko."

"Right. Sorry."

"By the way, Hashirama-sama wanted a word with you. He's at the prayer room"

"Okay." Kinjo started to trot towards the temple.

"Where's your companion?"

"He's returned to our village. Said he was losing vitality." Kinjo padded into the temple. He smelled garlic in the air, trailed it, and ended in the kitchen. Saki was frying the garlic. Hiromi was watching over the rice pot.

Saki noticed his presence. "Good morning, Kinjo."

"Kinjo!" Hiromi blurted out. She hurriedly ran to Kinjo and hugged his neck.

"Kinjo-san for you, young lady. Where is everyone?"

"Midori is training in the dojo with Tsuneo. Setsuko is with them," Saki said.

"I see."

"Let's play, Kinjo-ojisan!"

Hiromi's endearment caught him off-guard. "I'm sorry, Hiromi. I have something to do."

"Aw. How about later?"

"I can't promise you."

"Kinjo is so mean! Hmph!" Hiromi ran back in front of the rice pot.

Kinjo chuckled as he went on to the prayer room. Hashirama was kneeling in front of the Dragon God. "Zuko said there was something important that you wanted to tell me."

Hashirama made a bow in front of the Dragon God engraved in wood and turned to Kinjo. "Naruto-kun has already woken up. Talk with him about Setsuko's training in the Village of Dogs." Kinjo didn't make a reply. "Well?"

"Why don't we just train Setsuko here, together with Naruto-sama?"

"Naruto-kun's training will be of a different level, and her progress will be slow if she will train here. Besides, there's no way you can make her a Sage in here. She needs to be in the beasts' world to do that." He paused. "Kinjo, don't hold back on her. I know that this is difficult for you as a father, but Setsuko is an important person not only to me but to Tsuneo's family as well. She is already involved whether you like it or not. You need to tell her the truth about herself. Don't keep her from her true identity."

Kinjo sighed. "Okay."

…

Kinjo went to Naruto's room. Reiko was there and unwrapping the bandage around Naruto. Kinjo waited until Reiko told him that it was okay to come in. Reiko went back to her duty as patrol guard.

"Hi, there, Kinjo-san. Where's Cujo-san?"

"He's returned to our village, Naruto-sama. How are you feeling?"

Naruto made a show of punching with his left arm. "Good as new. Reiko-san is an excellent surgeon. So, why are you here?"

Kinjo was hesitating.

"Kinjo-san?"

"It's about Setsuko's training in our village, Naruto-sama."

"Well, could she withstand your village?"

"Yes, but for a limited amount of time. I can only allow her to stay there for ten hours a day. That's the safest."

"Then it's fine. I once trained in Myobukuzan. The place was virtually the same as here."

"Setsuko is different from you, Naruto-sama. She hasn't had any formal shinobi training, yet."

"Are you worried that she can't do it?"

Kinjo looked away for a moment, and then back at Naruto again. "I know she can, but..."

"That settles it, then."

"Naruto-sama…"

"She can do it with your guidance. I believe in you." Naruto grinned.

Saki called out to everyone. Breakfast was ready.

…

Reiko, Zuko, and Tsuneo opted to eat second batch to take charge of the temple's security. So the first batch only consisted of Midori, Setsuko, Hashirama, Saki, Hiromi, Chiasa, Naruto, and Kinjo, who was only there to introduce Setsuko to Naruto. He said that he had already eaten with his pack. Hiromi made much of Naruto, calling him "Prince-chan!" and hugging him as if they had been siblings ever since. Midori was blushing all the time, avoiding from looking at Naruto. Chiasa ate quietly away from everyone. Hashirama was himself, teasing Saki and joking about her breasts, which made Saki furious of him. When Hashirama asked for seconds, she refused. Hashirama was forced to apologize, and the way he did it compelled laughs from interested parties. When they were done, Kinjo formally introduced Setsuko. Naruto pleasantly accepted her acquaintance. But, Setsuko was a little disappointed.

"He is your new master?" she asked Kinjo.

"What's wrong?"

Setsuko stared at Naruto. "I can't believe it."

Naruto could feel a vein in his temple.

"Shssh," Kinjo reprimanded. "It's not the way to talk to the person who saved me."

"Yes, but I can't believe it."

Naruto forced a smile. It trembled on the corner of his mouth. "Kinjo-san, I think this girl is a little rude."

Setsuko crossed her arms. "I'm frank, not rude. I hate lying."

"Setsuko!" Kinjo barked. "I'm sorry, Naruto-sama. She has not been around humans for a long time."

"Father, I know a wimp when I see one."

Naruto stood up. "It's getting hot here. I think I'll go get some air outside."

Kinjo hit Setsuko with his paw. "Naruto-sama, I apologize in her behalf."

"Hey, what's wrong with expressing my opinion?" Setsuko said.

In a fast manner, Kinjo explained about Setsuko's training and Naruto's upcoming role in it. He needed to do it before Naruto walked out on them. Upon hearing it, Setsuko's disposition changed.

"Is that really true?" she asked. "Then, I'm sorry."

It didn't help. Naruto began to walk away. Kinjo blocked his way and pleaded with his eyes. Naruto glanced at Setsuko. Setsuko was making puppy eyes, too, but behind them was hope that he would help her with her training, something like greed, even.

"Huh? What?" Setsuko said. Kinjo nodded at her. "Okay. I take back my words."

Naruto sighed. A selfish person was sitting before him, but he couldn't do anything. Anyway, he agreed. Naruto explained to them that Setsuko needed to sign the Summoning Contract, too. Kinjo said that he would be taking Setsuko that day, so that he could acquaint her with his world. After finishing the ritual, Naruto summoned Kinjo back together with Setsuko. As for him, he felt a slight headache and went back to bed.

…

That afternoon, after lunch, Midori asked permission from Tsuneo to take a short break. Tsuneo permitted it. Midori went to Naruto's room. She wanted to apologize for the way she had been when they first met and to thank him for protecting Hiromi. She had had the chance this morning, but she didn't know why she couldn't even look at him. In front of his room's door, she breathed a lungful and knocked. Naruto called her in. He was wet with sweat and a little out of breath.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm sorry if you arrived on me like this. I've been exercising my left arm a little with pushups." He clenched and opened his left hand to show her.

"Oh."

"You, too, are a little out of breath."

"I've been training, too."

"I see. So, why are you here?"

Now she was out of words again. She crumpled her hakama. "A-ano…"

"Yes?"

In a rush of embarrassment, she blurted out, "You're annoying!"

"Ehhh?"

Midori was horrified with what she had said. But, she knew that she couldn't take it back. "I said you were annoying."

"Wha-wha-what? I didn't do anything to you. Where is this coming from?"

She stood up. "Hmph! I thought that you were really strong. If that was real, Hiromi could have died."

"I see. Maybe Setsuko was really telling the truth earlier."

Midori marched up to the door and slid it open. She glanced at Naruto and blanched when she saw Naruto doing a dogeza, the traditional prostration of one so guilty of his doing.

"I'm sorry," he said.

She panicked. "It's okay. Don't do that! Hiromi is safe! No one was hurt!"

"But I promised you that everything would be all right. I apologize for being conceited."

"No! It's okay…_Will you stand up?_"

Naruto looked up, frowning.

"It's okay. You don't need to prostrate. Past is past."

Naruto said thanks, his tone that of confusion, and she hurriedly went out of the room, cursing under her breath for her folly. Now she felt guilty because of her cowardice.

…

Because of what had happened, Naruto became more determined to try harder. He had now plenty of inspiration: Chiasa's challenge, Setsuko's disappointment, and Midori's anger. Not to mention the future enemies that he might be facing: Shitto, the Left Wing. The truth finally began to sink in him. He began to realize that where he was was another world. Unfamiliar people, unfamiliar territory. It had only been three days, but there were so many things that had already happened, many revelations that he had been fed with. He had to adapt. He knew he was good at it. He would adapt and learn as much as he could, so that when he finally reached Konoha, he would be a changed man, a better person. His friends would be there to congratulate him, to praise him, and to love him even more. He thought, wherever they might be, that they were missing him right now. They must have already started to search for him, but because he was too far away, it was all up to him to find his way back. He would find his way back even if it took him years. He would meet the faces that haunt him in his reminiscing and understand who he really was.

…

The evening came and, while he was watching the sunset, Hashirama came in his room. He started from the sound. Hashirama smiled at him.

"Doing fine?" Hashirama asked.

Naruto went down from the railing of the porch and sat across Hashirama. "Yeah. My left arm feels like I hadn't cut it. Reiko-san is really a good surgeon."

"She is. She's in my team because she is." Hashirama paused. "I want to apologize to you, Naruto-kun, for what I did."

Naruto grinned. "Don't worry about it. No one's got hurt. Besides, that fight with Zuko-san showed me how weak I was."

"That's the spirit. Anyway, I'm here to ask you about something. Do you feel something peculiar about your body?"

"No. Why?"

"It seems that you have the Demon Fox's chakra in you."

Something came in him when he heard it. The Demon Fox. He thought hard about it and remembered. Of course! He was the Jinchuriki of the Demon Fox!

"I see that you've remembered. I think you already sealed the evil away from the chakra, but it's still floating inside of you."

"I don't understand."

"People who become containers of world anomalies like the Demon Fox are called Jinchuriki."

"Yes, I know that."

"The seal used to imprison the Demon Fox in your body allows you to take control of it eventually. It's called Hakke Fuin. The Sealing Technique used to perform the sealing is called Shiki Fuujin—that's in your case, anyway. Now, there are five stages of taming a Biju sealed by Hakke Fuin. First is Saikyoiku. Here, you make use of the chakra leaking from the Dokubo where the Biju is imprisoned. Second is Kumiawase. Here, you mix your chakra with the Biju's. This part is dangerous, since the Biju has still its own will. There is the risk that the Biju might take control of you in the process. Third is Shiriai. Here, you seal the will of the Biju, so that you are no longer at risk when doing Kumiawase. This is where the Biju floats inside you. The fourth is Shihai. This is making the chakra of the Biju your own. Then, the final stage is Yuujo. This is when you can call up the Biju outside your body, its will intact, and use it to fight for you. This is when you finally prove that your will is greater that the Biju's. In this stage the Biju submits to you completely, not with force, but with the acknowledgement that you've proven your worth as its master. Presently, you're in the third stage, Shiriai. To be able to survive our enemies, you have to be in the fourth stage. Originally, I was planning to train you for only two months, but since our enemies are not ordinary, you have to go through at least three months of training."

"Will you teach me how to attain Shihai?"

"There is no specific method in doing it. Sometimes Jinchurikis choose to stay in Shiriai, where they can talk with their Bijus. But Bijus in Shiriai doesn't have any will anymore. When they talk with their Bijus, they actually talk with themselves." He looked at Naruto. "I can only give you a tip. The chakra of a Biju is massive. Making it your own means that you need to have tough chakra channels and a strong will. Zuko will help you attain that."

"How will I know that I've already attained Shihai?"

"Some of the characteristics intrinsic to a host of a certain Biju will disappear. In your case, it's your whiskers."

"I see." Silence came between them until Naruto said, "Why do you know so much about Bijus and Jinchurikis?"

Hashirama stood up. "I will tell you when you remembered everything. For now, do your best and attain Shihai. I talked with Chiasa, and I permit your match. If she kills you, then that's it. I'm telling you this because I don't want you to die."

…

The next morning Yuudai flew down from the sky. After several minutes, four three-man team shinobis arrived. Hashirama introduced them to everyone. He instructed one team to go with Reiko and begin their hunt for Shitto. Another team went with Saki to their house to get their things. When that was done, Hashirama assembled them again in the evening. He allocated two teams to go and escort Tsuneo and his family to Hibarashi's estate, him and Chiasa included. The remaining team would stay at the temple to oversee Setsuko, Zuko, and Naruto. With that said, Hashirama talked with Naruto for the last time before they left. He had a bottle of tablets in his hand.

"Take this," he said.

Naruto accepted the bottle. "What is this?"

"Listen, Sanmyaku is a closed country. There are no blond men in here. It will be dangerous if you keep being blond. You will attract suspicion, and that's the last thing that we want to have."

"So, these tablets are to change the color of my hair?"

"Yes."

"But how will my friends recognize me? First, my whiskers will disappear if I attain Shihai. Then, you want to change the color of my hair. Hashirama-san, I will be a different person if I do this."

"The effect will wear out in time."

"For how long? A year? Five years? Ten? How long?"

"I'm not sure how long. In my estimate, at least, five years."

Naruto stared at the bottle. "F-five years…"

"You need to do this, Naruto-kun."

"Shit. If someone from Konoha saw me, he would surely ignore me. My chance of someone accidentally finding me here has become slim."

Hashirama bent at his waist to be as tall as Naruto. "Don't worry about it. If everything turns out fine, I'll take you to Konoha myself."

"You know where Konoha is?"

He didn't want to tell he knew. "We can ask around." He straightened. "So, let me tell you what those tablets do. One tablet is filled with protein-substituting agent that saturates your hair with melanin. Take one tablet everyday for thirty days to completely alter the color of your hair to black. The hair in your head will experience a faster rate of hair growth, too. It's up to you to do the styling."

"Do I really have to do this? Why don't I just wear a bandana or a hood?"

"You know, too, that that won't work."

"Man, I feel like Konoha is getting farther and farther away."

Hashirama smiled. "If you think like that, then, eventually, you'll think that it's impossible for you to get home. One negative thought is like one thousand bacteria added in a decaying plum. Stay positive and don't lose hope."

Naruto glanced up at Hashirama, but couldn't keep it and looked back at the floor. "I'll try."

"What's that? That's lame. Say something with conviction."

Naruto had to smile. "Okay. I'll do my best."

"That's it. You had the guts to cut your arm for people you just met, but here you are cowering because you hair is about to change its color to black? No one will think that you are that same person. So, feel better now? Because if you don't want to, you can back out, anytime."

"I'll do it."

"Good. And one more thing. You'll be Asahi to people outside our circle."

"Asahi? Why do I have to change my name, too?"

"Naruto is an uncommon name here. We need to blend in. I'm just getting rid of anything risky for our cause. I fancy Asahi so I chose that. It means 'Morning Sun.' Quite suitable for your personality."

Naruto was unsure, but since it had gotten that far, why not. "Okay."

"Another thing. Someone asks you your job, you answer mercenary. Am I clear? You'll be Asahi the Mercenary from now on."

"Cool. Asahi the Mercenary."

Hashirama turned to leave. "Rest well. Tomorrow, your training will start."

…

Midori had just finished brushing her teeth when she met Hashirama in the hallway. She had put an extra hour to her training. A glint of mischief showed in Hashirama's eyes. Midori sped up her stride.

"I just talked with Naruto, and we talked about you," Hashirama said.

Midori whirled to face him. "What?"

"He said that you were beautiful but had an attitude he couldn't place."

"He got the nerve to say that?"

"Is it true that you haven't thanked him, yet?"

"What if it is? Do I have an obligation to thank him? He did it on his own."

He shrugged. "I don't know." And he walked away.

Midori watched him as he left. She was in deep thoughts. Hashirama was right. This afternoon she had intended to thank him, but instead, she said that he was annoying. Naruto must have been hurt. "Geez," she muttered. "What is happening to me?" She walked slowly to her room, promising herself that before they left tomorrow, she would talk with him.

So, the next morning, she spared some time to talk with Naruto. While Hashirama and her family were waiting at the stairs, carrying bags and all, she pulled Naruto aside, to somewhere Setsuko and Zuko would not hear.

"What's the matter?" Naruto asked. The sun was rising, and its glow cast a peach on Midori's face. Midori was holding the sleeve of his kimono. "Midori-san?"

She willed herself to look at him. "Thank you for protecting Hiromi."

"Oh, that? It was nothing. I should be the one apologizing. You were right. If Zuko-san was an enemy, Hiromi could have died for real."

She shook her head, pleased at Naruto's humility. "No. What you did was enough. I appreciate it, really. Thanks."

"Give him a kiss!" Hashirama called out.

"Shut up!" Midori yelled back. She stared at Naruto, her hand still grabbing his sleeve. "Show me your cheek."

Naruto frowned. "Why?"

"Just do it!"

Naruto reluctantly turned his head. Midori breathed in and gulped. She tiptoed to kiss him. Naruto suddenly jerked his head, curious and anxious of what she was going to do. Their lips accidentally met. They both gaped at each other. Midori slapped him, tears in her eyes.

"Pervert," she muttered. She turned and ran away, him watching her back.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" Naruto called out.

Hashirama and Hiromi were smiling, Saki a bit sad, and Tsuneo obviously angry.

"Good move, kid!" Hashirama said. He waved and the party descended the stairs.

Naruto looked into the distance.

"I saw it, lover boy," Setsuko said.

He whirled to her. "It was—"

"I know. Heard everything, too. But, it won't happen to me. Because the day you kiss me will be the day you die. Understand?"

"I'm happy someone understands me."

"So, what are you waiting for? Summon me back."

With a flurry of hand seals, he did what was asked of him. Setsuko disappeared into smoke, and Naruto was alone again. He looked up at the sky, a tinge of indigo at the edges of blue, feather-like clouds strewn around.

_To be continued…_


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14: Start of the Tedious Training

Setsuko appeared at the circle in the center of the Wolf District. Kinjo had already explained to her that the Village of Dogs was divided into two parts: the Wolf District and the Capital Region. These two regions had been at odds with each other since time immemorial. The Capital Region was where domestic breed of dogs lived. Paku, Kakashi's summon, was one of them. The dogs here lived in human-like houses, but walked in four feet. On the other hand, the Wolf District was where wolves, foxes, and other forest-bred canines lived. They resided in trees and had the appearance of beautiful people with dog ears and tails.

A black-haired man in his twenties approached her. He had silver earrings in each ear.

"Setsuko-sama, good morning," he greeted.

"Bakuryu!"

Bakuryu licked her cheek.

Setsuko pushed him away, letting out a nervous giggle. "I told you not to do that when you were in that form. Where's father?" She wiped her cheek.

"I'm sorry. Kinjo is feeding his pups." Thirty years in the world of humans was equivalent to only ten years in the Village of Dogs. That was why Bakuryu looked only in his twenties even though he was already over sixty in human years.

"Take me to his house," Setsuko said.

Bakuryu knelt on the ground. "I'll give you a ride."

"Bakuryu!"

"I'm sorry. I forgot that I'm in human form. Follow me."

Setsuko still couldn't believe that the people around her were wolves. They had flawless skin, smooth and healthy, ranging from the fairest of fair, the sexiest of tans, and the purest of black. They had perfectly shaped faces, dazzling hair, and eyes as brilliant as jewels. There were no fat or skinny women. There were no thin or bellied men. Everything…just perfect. Even Bakuryu beside her was easily the most handsome man he had ever seen. If he had not been a wolf, she could have let herself fall for him.

The tree house where Kinjo resided was big and white with branches extending to the ground. Bakuryu knocked on the door. Kinjo's wife, a lovely, white-haired woman, answered him.

"Hello, there, Bakuryu. Oh, Setsuko-chan, good morning to you, too," Haruki said, her voice calm and deep. "Come in."

Bakuryu led the way into the tree house. The furniture was all-made of white wood, put together with strings, and left with their natural shapes. Kinjo was inside the kitchen with his kids, four girls and three boys, all the same age, cute and cherubic as they could be, tails wagging as they played with themselves. Kinjo held a bowl in his hand, his face and robe splattered with minced meat.

"Aoi! Here's comes yours!" Kinjo said, holding a spoonful of food in his left hand. A little girl, tail wagging, came and stood against his thigh and looked up. He fed her from the spoon. The little girl whirled around, chasing her tail as she chewed the food in her mouth.

"Brooooom!" she said.

"No, no, Aoi. Behave."

"Let me have that, dear," Haruki said. "Setsuko is here."

At the sound of her name, the ears of the kids perked up. They blurted out her name and crowded around her. When she stooped down to pat their heads, they licked her all over the face.

Kinjo was a white-haired man in his late twenties. A black eye patch covered his empty left socket. His face usually emulated elegance and authority, but not today. "You're early," he said.

"Hashirama-ojisan and Tsuneo-otosan and his family left early. I don't want to be with Naruto-san for long. I asked him to summon me back here. Besides, I'm excited. Today is the start of my training."

"You're at it, again. Naruto-sama is not what you think he is."

"Look, father, he just kissed Midori this morning, and he made it look like an accident."

Kinjo laughed. "Really?" He dismissed the topic and went up to his room to clean himself.

…

Kinjo took her on the peak of a narrow mountain. From their spot, they could see the peaks of other mountains, peeking from the clouds. The two moons cast their waning brightness down at them.

Kinjo indicated the ropes extending from one peak to another, another to another, and that another back to the first, creating a web-like structure going to every direction, plunging to various altitudes in and out of the clouds, and swaying in the wind with varying tautness. "Setsuko, this will be the first part of your training: mastering your body." Kinjo jumped towards the center of a rope, easily landing on it. The rope swayed, but only his lower body moved. His balance was incredible.

Setsuko smiled and jumped to the air, somersaulted, and landed on another rope. Her balance was also impeccable. "Is this it?" She did a back flip and landed on one foot.

Kinjo smiled. "Oh. Confident, eh?"

"I've already mastered my body."

"Really? Then…" Kinjo produced three black beetles from his kimono. "It will be easy for you to catch these." He tossed them in air. The beetles hovered around him. "These are called Muzomushi. They can stay flying in air for two months with only the vapor as their food, and they are the fastest insects here in our world. They can only survive above clouds, however. Now, Setsuko, I want you to catch even one of these beetles to clear this stage."

"Bring it on, Father!"

Kinjo smiled. "You seem to be very enthusiastic about this."

"Of course! I don't want to lose to anyone."

"Is that so?" Kinjo hunkered on the rope. "Tell you what. The second stage involves a lot of revelations about you." He stood up and shooed the beetles in her direction. "Good luck. And don't crush them. I want them alive."

…

Naruto stared into the eyes of the monk. They were staring at each other. A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek and dropped from his chin. He could smell dust and blood in the air. A cricket chirped behind him. The day was bright, but all he could see was purple. Suddenly, the monk smiled. Naruto blanched. In the monk's hand was a razor blade.

"Come, now, Naruto-kun. This won't hurt."

Naruto screamed and started to run away. He couldn't escape. The monk easily caught him, sitting on his back. The razor glinted under the sunlight.

"No, no, no!"

The monk chuckled. He lowered the razor onto Naruto's hairline. "Don't move around or you'll get cut." And he pulled the razor against Naruto's scalp. Blonde hair rolled into a ball and rode along with the blade.

Naruto screamed a last time and fainted in misery.

…

Naruto woke up after a few minutes, cold air against his skin. He realized he was half-naked. He was only wearing a robe that only covered his legs. His chest burned in the sun. His bare scalp burned, too. With shaking hands, he felt his head. It was clean. Nothing against his palms, nothing through his fingers. He wanted to cry.

Zuko stood in front of him. "Look at you. You're very handsome."

Naruto stood up, backed off a little, and pointed a contemptuous finger at the monk. "You! Don't come near me!"

"Oh, come on! With Hashirama-sama's pills, it will grow in no time. You're still cute, anyway."

"I don't want to listen to you!"

Zuko's expression hardened. "It's done. You're my student, I require you to be bald before I start training you. Here, wear this." He tossed a monk's rosary at him.

"You're trying to convert me into a monk, aren't you?"

"No. Try it."

Naruto stared at Zuko. No reaction. He stared at the large wooden beads of the rosary. He glanced once more at Zuko before finally putting the rosary over his head. When it settled down around his neck, he instantly felt the zapping feeling from the rosary. He tried to pry it up, but it was stuck. He looked alarmingly at Zuko.

"The beads suck your chakra. If you don't learn how to create balance with it, you'll die."

"What? What am I supposed to do?"

"Create balance," Zuko said, and walked away.

Naruto stared at Zuko's back, dumbfounded. He didn't have any idea what to do. The beads sucked like hungry leeches.

…

After only thirty minutes, Naruto began to feel dizzy. The beads were gluttonous. He could feel that even his air was being sucked. He leaned on a tree and panted. The beads continued on sucking from him. His vision doubled for an instant.

"What are you doing?" Zuko asked, appearing from nowhere. "You'll die if you keep doing that."

"I don't know what to do."

"Have you forgotten how to control your chakra? Those beads are the same as the beads around my neck. They're strong. If you don't tug back, you'll be drained."

"Tug?"

"Yeah. The beads have a special seal that dissolves chakra. Before that happens, suck back the chakra that the rosary has sucked from you. That way you create balance."

"I don't understand."

Zuko sighed. "I've told you already. If you die, it's your fault for being slow. I'll be at the praying room. See you later. Or should it be goodbye?" He laughed and walked away.

Naruto was desperate. Using his strength, he tried to pull the beads away from his skin. He felt the beads sucking at his hands as well. He heaved once more. It was no use. He fell on his knees. His throat felt dry, and he had to gape to catch air. His consciousness was leaving him. Then, as he lost his control over his balance, the chakra of the Demon Fox emerged, enfolding him in red light. Zuko, in the praying room, felt it, too, and smiled. Naruto felt his strength coming back.

_What is happening to you?_

"The beads are sucking my chakra."

_Why can't you stop it?_

"I don't know how."

_The monk said that you should create balance with it._

"I don't know how!"

_You'll lose my chakras, eventually._

He could hear the Demon Fox, its big, deep voice that had a mysterious echo in it. Was it really true that he was actually talking with himself?

Balance…

His training in Myobukuzan. To avoid changing into a toad, he needed to be still to create balance with his surroundings. But now he must create balance with the beads. It was reverse. The environment gave off energy. The beads took in energy. The question was how to retrieve the chakra being sucked from him. Did he have the time to think about it? The Demon Fox chakra was larger in quantity. In his calculation, maybe he could last for three hours. No. He shouldn't depend on the fox's massive chakra. He should come up with a solution as quickly as possible.

Was it really different? In his Sage training, he only had to tap the energy. It was plenty, hovering everywhere like air. The only thing was he had to stay still. Stay still and redirect…Stay still and pull…_Wait!_ It was the same! He just needed to pull at the chakra in the beads like he had done in his Sage training. Man, why was he so slow?

He closed his eyes and stood still. He could see darkness, and in that darkness he could feel the beads. One by one he determined how much a bead sucked from him. One by one, like ghostly apparitions, the beads appeared, slowly making a rosary in front of him. Now, he visualized sucking from them. He made himself non-existent, a vacuum where nothing existed. The feeling tingled. His body sensed emptiness. It took over two minutes for him to remember completely that particular feeling. Now, he could feel every chakra channels in his body, every tenketsu closing and opening like the valves of his heart. Then the process began. The beads were still stronger, but it already was progress. The exhaustion rate lowered. Finally, he was doing it.

Still, he fainted.

…

Naruto woke up inside a room. The beads were no longer on his neck. He looked around. There were legs beside him. He looked up and saw Setsuko's face under the red dusk sun. He tried to talk but only a groan came out. Setsuko opened her eyes. She laughed, weakly.

"Nice hairdo," she said.

Naruto smiled, drowsy. "That crazy monk did this. I hate it."

Setsuko chuckled. "Seems so."

Naruto pulled himself up. The pain shot through his nerves. His muscles felt like ripping. Tears sprung in his eyes, his face pulling into a grimace.

"You sure are in pain."

"So are you. Your hands are limp."

"Yeah."

Naruto succeeded in leaning against the wall beside her. "I feel like I'm dying."

Setsuko smiled, showing her overgrown cusps. "What a coincidence. Me, too."

Naruto tried to smile back, but his eyelids fluttered and threw the veil over his eyes. His head fell on Setsuko's shoulder. Setsuko laughed briefly and slept as well. The light through the window crawled from their sleeping faces down to their feet and then was gone. Under the rising moon, they were a perfect picture of a big sister and her little brother.

…

Twelve days passed.

…

The bald head glimmered under the glare of the morning sun. Morning was just waking up. Fog still hung between the leaves of the trees. Dews hanging on the grass twinkled at the right angle of view. Naruto stood in front of the monk, considerably thinner than before, his hair two centimeters long now, ash gray in color.

"You finally did it," Zuko said. "Anyway, it's expected since you are a Sage. It took me three weeks, you know. Now, you're ready for the second phase of your training. Follow me."

"May I take this off, now? And I want my clothes back."

"No."

"You mean, even after the training?"

"Yes."

"You're kidding. This rosary is too bothersome." Naruto hugged himself and shivered. "And it's cold."

"The cold temperature is not an issue. You're still a beginner in handling the beads. When chakra goes outside the human body, it has the body's normal temperature. That's why, however you try it, it won't burn anything. However, with those beads around your neck, the flow rate of your chakra increases a hundred folds in your chakra circulatory system, thus, even if you don't notice it, you're chakra now is actually as hot as fire. I weaved that robe myself, so it won't burn. However, normal clothes—_your_ clothes, included—will burn to ashes."

"Ehhh? Why are you only telling me now? So it's the reason behind your volunteering to summon back Setsuko-san using my blood. What if I had something to talk about with Setsuko-san? I could have injured her! And that smelly room! So that's why you have been forcing me to sleep in there! Man, you're so irresponsible."

"Right, right. Sorry about that. I didn't find the necessity since from the first day I always took off that rosary from you when you lost consciousness. It was only yesterday, when you finally created balance with the beads, that the danger appeared.

"Now, about those beads. Don't get too cocky because you can now sleep without worrying about the beads sucking you dry of chakra. At the moment, the beads are only eating from thirty-six tenketsu out of your total three hundred sixteen. In other words, you've only completed a little over eleven percent of this stage. You've a long way to go, Naruto-kun. The beads stay until the time comes when you break them with your chakra control. My advice: listen to me, be patient, and stop whining. Let's go."

…

The wooden door creaked out of old age at Zuko's push. The edges were still intact, an evidence of careful and skillful seasoning of wood. The upper corner caught a spider web hanging from the beams. Dust and musty air entered their noses. Naruto put a hand over his nose.

Zuko walked into another door. Light was coming in from the high windows on the wall. Motes of dust danced randomly inside the beam of light. One corner was filled with stone statues of gods. Wheels of carts leaned on the wall behind the figures. Draped frames stood mysteriously at the opposite corner. Soot made a black carpet on the floor.

Zuko beckoned Naruto to follow and stopped in front of a group of small iron pyramids the size of a fist.

"Bring three," Zuko said.

Naruto obeyed. They returned to the courtyard.

Zuko set the three iron pyramids apart from each other. "This is the second phase of your training. This is what you will do." He created a Rasengan, to Naruto's annoyance—it looked too easy for him. He put the Rasengan over the point of one pyramid and made a handstand over it. "After you learned to create balance with a hostile entity, you should learn next to create balance with your own chakra. Aside from the pressure your Rasengan will exert, this pyramid will also absorb your chakra and reflect it back to you. Too little amount of chakra and you'll lose your hand. Too much and you'll lose your arm." He pushed himself back and landed next to Naruto. "In this training you'll learn to control the rate of flow of your chakra. Now, to complete this training, I need you to be able to make two of your shadow clones perform the handstand as long as you can."

"How long will I stay in that position?"

"The whole day."

Naruto gulped.

…

Zuko watched from a branch of a tree. Sunlight that managed to pass through the leaves dappled his face with patches of light. The breeze caressed his face.

At first, Naruto made two shadow clones, and the three of them did the handstand. They only lasted for a couple of seconds. Naruto sat up, rubbing his wrist. He tried it alone and lasted for ten seconds. He managed to miss the point of the pyramid. For a minute, he just stared at the pointed metal.

Zuko yawned and took a nap.

_To be continued…_


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15: Unexpected Events

The wind played with the hem of her dress. The wind tossed her pink hair. Sakura walked to Tsunade's office, looking up at the blue sky. She had the message in between her thumb and forefinger. Finally, she would have a mission.

Outside the building, she stopped when she saw fifteen unfamiliar shinobis, garbed in camouflage cloaks. Their forehead protector had the engraving of a falcon's eye. It was an emblem she hadn't seen before. Dried mud was on their boots and the hems of their cloaks. Their faces were dusty as well, a sign of a long journey. A shinobi looked at her. She bowed her head and went on.

She arrived on Tsunade sipping tea with, to her presumption, the leader of the group outside.

"Good morning, Tsunade-sensei," she said.

"Sakura. Come. Meet Yukio Kanade, a Chuunin of Hanegakure, Hidden Village of Feathers," Tsunade said. "He has come a long way to contract us for a job."

Kanade stood up and extended a hand for a shake. "Pleased to meet you." He had a gentle voice and soft articulation of words.

Sakura took his hand. "I'm Haruno Sakura, sir. Pleased to meet you."

"Is she one of your students? My, my, she's young and beautiful."

"Actually, she's already a Jonin," Tsunade said.

"Oh, really?"

"Sakura is one of the top medical ninjas here in Konoha."

"What a surprise!"

"Tsunade-sensei?" It was Shino at the door. "We're here."

"Come in."

Shino led Shikamaru, Momoko, and Ino inside.

"Here they are, Kanade-san. Aburame Shino, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino. They will comprise the team that I'll be sending with you."

Kanade seemed unsure how to accept the news. "Well, I have no doubts that they are exceptional talents, but do you have medical ninjas who are more experienced in battle? Don't get me wrong, Tsunade-dono, but we are preparing for a war. Have they been in a war before? They are…" he looked incredulously at the group, "…too young."

Tsunade smiled. "I assure you that they will not fail your expectations, Kanade-san. You will not find anyone as suitable as them for this mission."

"But…" He wanted to protest, but couldn't do it out of humility.

"I will give your money back and personally go to your village if they fail. How does that sound?"

"Hmmm…" Kanade glanced at the young shinobis, then back at Tsunade, again. "Are you really that confident about them?"

"Absolutely."

He sighed and then smiled. "Well, then, I guess I have to trust in your words. You're the renowned Medical Genius of the East, after all."

"Thank you."

"As the contract says, they will stay in our village for one year to teach our shinobis a course in medicine, and in exchange for it, fifteen of our best fighters will stay here to fill in their places. I'll go get half of the payment, now."

"No. I'll let you discuss this with your colleagues first. I don't want to rush you in closing a deal with us. This seems to be very important for your village."

"It is, indeed."

"Well, why don't you relax for a day? You've been on the road for three months, as you said. I'm sure you are all very tired."

"What generosity! Thank you very much, Tsunade-dono!"

"Shizune!"

After a few seconds, Shizune's head popped at the door. "Yes, Master?"

"Take them to the best hotel here. They are my guests."

Shizune saluted, comically. "Roger!"

"I'll see you tomorrow, same time." Tsunade shook hands with Kanade.

…

"We'll be gone for one year. Now, that's a long time," Sakura said.

"Don't worry because I assure you that you'll be properly compensated," Tsunade replied.

"Where is their village, anyway? You said that they had travelled for three months," Shikamaru said.

"They're from a small kingdom called Taka in Sanmyaku, the Country of Mountains. It is two countries from here."

"Wow," Momoko muttered.

"The Wing Shadow, _Tsubasakage_, smelled something boiling in the Kingdom of Nue, something about the odd numbers of immigrants entering the kingdom. Hanegakure's spies gathered information that Nue was beginning to be concerned about its increasing population. The Tsubasakage is an associate of mine. She is very cautious. He thinks that Nue will start to invade territories in its rival kingdom, Kogiwara, if the influx of people creates a crisis in the economy and no better solution can be done. Taka is friendly towards Nue, and if Nue starts a war, Taka is required to give support. Taka is strong when it comes to combat, but its army's survival rate is low. The reason behind it being its insufficiency of trained medical personnel, and its old-book medical techniques. Your mission is to train enough medical ninjas to back up their army."

"Isn't Sanmyaku a closed country?" Ino asked. "I've read that since the Great War between Kogiwara and Nue twenty-six years ago, no outsider has managed to enter through its borders. The country is bordered by an impenetrable cordillera, and the only passage into it has disappeared, mysteriously, after the war. Tsunade-sensei, are we going to cross the cordillera to enter Sanmyaku? If that's the case, my parents will never permit me. I have to decline."

"No. These shinobis seem to have found a secret passage to enter Sanmyaku safely. Kanade-san didn't want to tell me about the details, but he assured me that you would not have to cross the cordillera to get to their village."

"I'm just curious," Shino began. "If a war broke out, were we compelled to take part in it?"

"No. You're not bound by any such condition."

Silence.

"Anymore questions?" Tsunade finally said.

"Only the five of us and Kanade-san will go to Hanegakure?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. The fifteen Jonins Kanade-san brought with him will stay here to take your place in case an emergency occurs."

"I see."

"Anymore? Okay." Tsunade began to hand out scrolls to the five. "Written in there are the conditions of the contract and the duration of the mission. Make sure that your guardians will have read and agreed to it by tomorrow. I want it signed and stamped before I permit you to go."

…

The group began to leave except for Shikamaru. Shikamaru produced a small bottle from his breast pocket.

"Here's the powder you asked from my father."

"Fungi?"

"Yes. It is the best sort for burns."

Tsunade shook the bottle in front of her face. "Thank you."

"Tsunade-sensei, I'm just curious about the mission. Is it really practical for you the accept this? One year is a long time. There are a lot of villages, too, where the Tsubasakage could have found good medical ninjas."

"Ah, that. The Tsubasakage was a Konohan. She is a close friend of mine, and even though we're worlds apart, now, it will never change. When she was still living here, her mother was poisoned. Her family searched frantically from village to village for a medical nin. Some came but they all failed to cure her. I was the only one who was able to save her. We were the same age, so they wouldn't believe me at first. So when I succeeded, she virtually worshipped my skills. I'm not surprised in her going a long way just to ask for this job. Maybe she's thinking that no village could produce good medical ninjas other than the village under my administration."

"So, that explains it."

"I had to laugh when she sent fifteen of her Jonins as part of the bargain. That woman really overrates me." Tsunade put the bottle in her drawer. "I expect you to lead the team well, Shikamaru. There's no one here except you that I could entrust this mission to. The Country of Mountains has always been like a fully stretched rope, ready to break any time. If you smell trouble, don't push through. Retreat."

Shikamaru considered Tsunade's countenance. "I understand."

…

Ino and Sakura walked the streets of Konoha. Everything was normal except for new opened shops that sold Naruto souvenirs. An imitation of his jacket, huggables like pillow-sized Naruto stuff toys, small sculptured figures of Naruto, and, of course, paintings. It was just fortunate that Tsunade had seized Naruto's things and closed off his apartment before anyone selfish could take advantage of them. Some of the kids were like die-hard fans, dressing like Naruto and blurting out "–dattebayo," Naruto's pet expression, after their sentences. The Ichitaku Ramen Shop had been very productive after writing a sign out front—"Uzumaki Naruto's favorite ramen house!"

Sakura said, "Sometimes I'm annoyed by the villagers' insensitivity. When Naruto was alive, they took him for granted. Now…I don't get it. What they're doing is almost disrespectful to him."

"Sakura… "

"I know that this will pass, and soon he will be forgotten. But sometimes I want to yell at these people who—"

"We have new orchids delivered this morning. Why don't we go to his grave? I was planning to visit him, anyway. We can say a little prayer and ask for his guidance before we go for our mission."

Sakura regarded Ino and hugged her. "You really are my best friend!"

Ino tapped Sakura's back. "Not so tight."

At the grave, they met Momoko, praying in front of the obelisk, smoke coming from the incense curling over her face. They let her finish.

Momoko stood up, gasped when she saw them. "Sakura-chan! Ino-chan! H-hi!" She glimpsed at her incense. "It's not what you think. I'm just passing by."

Sakura smiled. "We're not asking."

"I…" she looked away, "…I know."

Sakura and Ino put the orchid in front of the obelisk and prayed.

"Ino's mom made us some sandwiches," Sakura said. "Why not join us. We can't finish them all by ourselves, anyway."

Momoko considered, and then nodded.

"Let's go there." Sakura pointed at the oak tree.

Once they were seated, Ino handed out sandwiches to her two friends and poured tea for the three of them. They ate in silence for a while.

"New mission, eh?" Sakura said, breaking the silence. "A big job. The pay amounts to twenty Class S missions in all. And the mission doesn't center on combat. I would say that we were fortunate to have been chosen for this."

"We'll be going to a place where I war might erupt any second," Momoko said. "Is that your idea of fortunate?"

"Come on. We could run away if that happened. A war is a big thing, anyway. It doesn't just erupt any second. I'm sure there'll be some sort of warning before that."

"No one knows the future. Unpredictable things happen every time. Like what happened to—"

"I'm excited, you know," Ino cut in. "We may be able to find ourselves fine guys out there."

"Guys, you say," Sakura muttered. Her eyes started to well up.

Ino tried to lighten the mood. "How's the sandwich?"

"Good!" Momoko jibed in. "Your mom's a pretty good cook!"

"Sorry," Sakura said. She smiled, but it looked no more than a forced attempt to hide her true feelings.

Momoko sighed through his nose. Ino took a bite from her sandwich and cursed under her breath.

…

Zuko noticed the silence. By silence he meant that all he could hear was what was ordinarily heard: the rustle of leaves, the wind against surfaces, the insects, the birds. He was monitoring another sound. The pyramid was metal for that purpose. Whatever one did, once chakra flowed into it, it would create vibrations. Something was not right. He couldn't hear the vibrations. Had Naruto run off to somewhere? He opened his eyes and checked. The moment he saw what Naruto was doing, he rushed to where he was and pumped him with his fists. Naruto flew towards the wall of the temple.

"What in monk's name are you doing?" Zuko shouted. He grew concerned. Naruto opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of the water. Open and close, open and close. He knelt in front of Naruto. No breath was coming out of his nose. Naruto's eyes were glazed and far away. Slowly, blood flowed out from Naruto's ears. Naruto heaved and coughed up blood. "Shit!" Zuko hissed. He checked on Naruto's body. Veins stood out on the boy's skin. His right arm was purple, and a cluster of veins had grown around his wrist like exposed roots of a tree. Zuko grabbed and took away the rosary from Naruto's neck. He lifted Naruto onto his shoulder and went inside the temple.

He had seen Naruto doing the handstand all right, but the kid was pumping out chakra out his feet to maintain balance, too. It was very dangerous for it opposed the flow of chakra from the pyramid. Naruto's chakra channels had overloaded and internal leakage occurred. Naruto had fainted because of pain, but the pressure created by the booster on his feet and the Rasengan on his hand was perfect, so he was able to stay upright. If Zuko had noticed the silence a little later, he could have arrived on a bloody corpse, if there would have been one, considering that Naruto could have erupted into chunks of flesh.

He could just shake his head. The kid was crazy. He should keep that in mind. The kid's determination pushed him to do everything possible to complete a task. Why had he ignored Naruto's unprecedented solution when he cut his arm to save the two girls? It was annoying, frustrating, and…a little exciting. Naruto was only the second student that he had ever taught. But Naruto could not be compared to his first. His first student was brilliant, but very cautious. Sometimes he would have to forget carrying on with an exercise because his first student demanded a detailed explanation from him. Naruto complained, yes, but he was obedient in the end. And, instead of asking about the purpose of a particular training, he tried to explore it himself and see it through. He was happy about Naruto's success with the beads wherein he had only supplied hints for the boy. His first student had mastered it in five days, but only after he had told him almost everything.

However, he must keep an eye—always—on Naruto. It could be his opinion, but he sensed that Naruto was not only serious on getting stronger. He was also serious on pleasing his master.

He went to the kitchen and cooked soup for his very interesting and possibly his would-be most treasured student. Naruto would not be able to take even a gulp of it.

…

Naruto felt something soft against his face. What was this, a pillow? He snuggled closer and threw his arms over. He caught another one in his left hand. He squeezed, question marks in his head.

"Get off me, you bastard," a voice muttered.

He opened his eyes. He was on Setsuko's chest. Hastily, he pulled himself away. Once sleepiness left him, he felt his body tearing in two. He almost blacked out. Saliva came out his mouth and dripped to the floor. His nose bled, and he heard a high pitch sound in his ears. He hugged his stomach and writhed.

"Hey, what's happening to you?" Setsuko asked.

Naruto groaned, grimacing, frowning, scowling—whatever his facial muscles must do to relieve some of the pain.

"Zuko-san…Father…" Setsuko couldn't talk louder. Her voice was almost a whisper. "Father…"

Naruto made a wrong turn. He accidentally rolled over his right arm, which was bandaged. He screamed.

"Naruto-san, hey…Father! Father!"

Zuko and Kinjo came rushing from the porch.

"What is happening?" Kinjo asked. "Naruto-sama!"

"Naruto-kun!" Zuko rolled Naruto over. Naruto coughed up blood. "Breathe! Breathe!"

"What's happening, Zuko?"

"His muscles are straining. His internal wounds have opened."

"Where am I?" Naruto saw a glimpse of the monk, but his vision blurred. He was in darkness again.

…

"Reiko is not here. I don't know how to handle this kind of injury," Zuko said. He wiped Naruto's face. "Damn it. He's very hot. Kinjo, you have good doctors in your village, right? This kid is already a Sage. He can withstand the climate in your world for months. Take him with you. He has the most dangerous injuries a person could sustain. His chakra channels are damaged. If we keep him like this, he'll die. Damn, we should have done this earlier. I was depending on the fox's chakra too much."

Actually, Zuko had missed the fact that chakra was more of a danger if it was leaking directly to the tissues of the body—he was shaken that much. Before becoming of any help to the body, chakra should be filtered so that only the consumable energy remains. The chakra channels have that job. They filter the chakra and only let through the mitotic energy for cell reproduction. When the channels are damaged, it's like there's no ozone layer to filter out the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun.

Setsuko's eyes widened. She tried to sit up, but fell back. "He'll die? What kind of training were you doing? How did he get those injuries?"

"It was my fault. I was overconfident with the difficulty of the training. I didn't think that he would do something crazy. Kinjo, I'll take care of Setsuko-kun. You'd better go now."

Kinjo nodded. He put a paw on Naruto's arm.

Zuko pricked Naruto's thumb and used his blood to perform reverse summoning.

…

Kinjo and Naruto appeared as how they had been inside the room earlier. They were inside his house. Haruki stood up from the table and approached them. Outside, the bigger moon was purplish, the other reddish in the night sky.

"Honey?"

"He's my master. His chakra channels had been damaged in his training. I'll go down to the Capital Region and ask for Baba to come here."

"His chakra channels?" She looked horrified. "Go. I'll take him upstairs." She carried him in her arms. "Call the Elder on your way there."

"Okay."

Kinjo roused Bakuryu and Cujo and asked them to go with him. They went to the Elder and told him what happened. The Elder immediately rushed to Kinjo's house. In the Village of Dogs, summoners always had special treatment. They were a very important existence that the inhabitants of the village consider sacred.

Kinjo and company went on to the Capital Region.

…

The Capital Region was like an ordinary city. Houses crowded the sides of the road. Some dogs grew worried when they saw them. The wolves had gone down! It might be another war! That was what their eyes were saying. Paku, who was smoking a tobacco in front of his house, saw them passing by. Seeing Kinjo, Bakuryu, and Cujo for the first time in twenty-six years, made his floppy ears stand up. He ran after them.

"Kinjo! When did you come back?" Paku asked, catching up in his short, fast gait.

"Paku, I'm sorry but I'm in a hurry. I need to get to Baba."

"Why? What happened?"

"My master damaged his chakra channels in his training this morning."

"Woof! Talk about terminal."

"He's not going to die!"

"Sorry, my bad. Well, good luck, then. I'm glad to see you again." He slowed down and eventually stopped, watching as the three beautiful man-looking wolves dashed away from him.

_To be continued…_


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16: Grabbing Hope and Letting Go

Kinjo shook his legs as he waited in his chair. Haruki put her hand on his.

"Don't worry, honey. Everything will be all right," she said.

Kinjo looked at her wife.

"You managed to return despite being gone for twenty-six years. I thought you already died, but you are here with me, now. Naruto-sama brings with him miracles. He can pull through from this."

Kinjo patted his wife's hand and offered a small smile. Baba appeared on top of the stairs. She was a tall woman with white curly hair in which edges had the color of red flame. She was a cross-breed of a wolf and a poodle. She almost became transparent as she descended the steps for her skin was very white. Kinjo stood up, hopeful expression on his face.

"Baba."

Baba was a head taller than Kinjo, and she loomed over him. "He's all right. He has an incredible will to live, and his red chakra seems to have the nature of fixing him up whenever he's injured."

"What red chakra?" Haruki asked. "He has two chakras?"

"Yes. It will take days before the holes in his channels are repaired. The damage in his system is large. During that time, he will be submitted to repeated regeneration and destruction of cells. I only succeeded in blocking the hostile chakra from going into his mind. We must put him in the chamber, Kinjo, where no external elements can get near him. His immune system is not working well because of the chakra leaks."

"Okay. I'll go tell the Elder. Thank you, Baba."

Baba patted his cheek. "You're always welcome, son. Good night."

…

Setsuko stretched in front of Zuko. "I'm all set," she said.

"Tell me about Naruto-kun when you get back this evening."

"Of course."

Zuko produced a small bottle from his belt. It contained Naruto's blood. He put a drop on his thumb and did a reverse summoning to Setsuko.

Once she arrived at the Village of Dogs, she immediately asked for Naruto from Kinjo. Kinjo took her to the Elder's tree, no question the biggest and most authoritative tree in the Wolf District. The interior of the tree was a large library with thousands of scrolls and stone tablets. Green torches burned on the wall. The Elder led the way down a spiraling staircase. They reached a basement. It was illuminated by glowing rocks inside meshes of wire in the ceiling. The Elder went to a wall and put his hand inside a hole in it. A block receded from the wall and opened into a large room. Wolf-folks in white cloth were in front of consoles, adjusting dials and recording on their clipboard. And in the farthest corner, there was Naruto. He was naked inside an aquarium installed in the wall. An oxygen mask was over his face, and wires were attached in his body. Setsuko tried hard not to stare to anywhere but his face, though she couldn't _completely _suppress her curiosity and glanced twice "down there," inducing a gasp from her mouth and a blush on her face.

"The damage was large so we had to keep him here," the Elder said, caressing his long beard, his wolf ears flicking away the gnat that had surprisingly managed to follow them down.

"How long does he need to stay in there?" Setsuko asked.

"A week to be sure."

Setsuko stared into his face. Bubbles floated up from the oxygen supply on the floor of the aquarium. One got caught in his right ear, and she itched to free it from there.

"Father, let's train. I don't know what kind of training he was doing, but I feel like I haven't been doing my best in mine, seeing him like this. I promise you that I'll finish the first stage today."

Kinjo smile and put his hand on her head. "Good."

…

Setsuko stood on a rope. Kinjo stood on another. The wind was mild, but was strong enough to make the ropes sway a little. The clouds were thick and almost hid the peak of the narrow mountains.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, Father."

"Here they are." Kinjo released the beetles and they flew in every direction like happy kids unleashed finally from a day of school.

Setsuko watched them carefully. She had grown accustomed to their movements. She knew where every one of the three beetles went. "Here I come," she muttered. She ran on the rope, stopped, crouched, and used the inherent elasticity of the rope, as little as it was, to propel herself towards a beetle. She almost grabbed it. She dropped to another rope, bounced up, and tried again. The beetle got away. She tried for another one. Then for the other. She repeated it over and over again until she managed to force the beetle to escape in a pattern. Gradually, the beetles began to dodge in the least motion necessary. Only a little to the left, only a little to the right. There came a time when she was about to grab a beetle, but deliberately stopped, veered away, and tried for another. The beetle she had almost grabbed didn't move.

Kinjo noticed what she was doing. The beetles, because of their puny brains, acted on instinct alone. Setsuko was trying to create a "safe place" for them. She intentionally stopped when she was about to enter that "safe place," so the beetles stayed in that "safe place" because they sensed that the predator could not touch them in there. Kinjo was impressed. The first week she could barely use other ropes and stayed only on ropes that she could see. Now, she could unconsciously locate and jump around everywhere. Her reflexes had improved tremendously. A fast arrow would never hit her.

Setsuko kept at it for three hours until the beetles didn't even flinch when she came. She succeeded in making a sphere around them. She had let them memorize her movements. Now, she sped up. She attacked at the nearest distance possible. The beetles just hovered as if saying, "You can't touch us in here!" Then, after fifteen more minutes, she made her coup de grace. She disappeared from the beetles' sight, was lost for ten seconds, and came shooting from below, cupping the beetles in her hands.

"Got ya!" She could feel the beetles clawing against her palms, and it tickled. She was hanging upside down, one feet hooked on a rope. "I got them Father!"

Kinjo clapped his hands. "Marvelous, Setsuko! I'm impressed."

Setsuko grinned. "Now, for the second stage."

…

Shikamaru's team and Kanade had left early that morning. They carried large bags on their backs. Right now, they were crossing the familiar route towards the border of Konoha. The trees creaked under their feet, as they enjoyed the cold breeze against their faces. They travelled for four hours until Kanade shifted direction. The team frowned, but followed nevertheless. The trees became thicker where they were going. Kanade was going down slope. Shikamaru grew curious by the minute. When he could not contain it any longer, he talked to Kanade.

"This is not the way out the borders," Shikamaru said.

"There's another way. Just follow me."

Shikamaru glanced over his shoulder at his team. They shared the same anxiety.

The mist grew thick, too. The sun was completely out of sight, and the surrounding was dark. Strange noises were coming from everywhere. They knew where they were. The Konoha Falls sent its chilling rush from the distance. They could see the dark river only less than a hundred meters away. Shikamaru raised a hand and stopped. His team obeyed and stood behind him. Kanade noticed this.

"We are going back if you don't tell us where you are taking us," Shikamaru demanded.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. We're near to it."

"Tell us where you are taking us."

Kanade stood his ground for a while, and then sighed. "All right. We discovered a shortcut to enter Sanmyaku without going through the mountain range. It's just at the end of this river."

"How can we know if you're telling the truth?"

"This is what I hate about youngsters. Listen, Tsubasakage-sama is a dear friend of the Hokage. I've left my men in your village. I've paid half of the agreed cost. The contract has the emblem and signature of our village leader. And I'm alone and only a Chuunin who you could easily kill if I did something stupid against you." Kanade searched their faces. "Trust me, okay. I'm on your side." No reaction. "What? Hey, aren't you Aburame Shino? Put some of your bugs on me, those that could kill me at your will. If you deem that I'm lying, then kill me." Still, no reaction. He sighed. He turned on them, dejected. "Just come with me. I'll show you."

Shikamaru nodded at his team. They followed Kanade, but now with wariness. Kanade led them into a clearing at the falls at the tip of Hades River.

"Come here," Kanade said. "Look down."

There was a large whirlpool below. The eye of the whirlpool could have been as big as Konoha's plaza. It was black and scary. The water amplified its terrifying appearance by making a white spiral around it.

"That's a worm hole," Kanade continued. "Our Minister of Science had discovered it nine years ago. It is directly connected to the Kaki River in the Kingdom of Nue. Actually, there are sixteen like this in the world. They are remnants of the battle between the Sage of the Six Paths, the creator of the ninja world, and Thanatos, the greatest swordsman that ever lived."

"You expect us to jump into that? Are you crazy?" Ino said.

"I can't believe I'm seeing an actual one," Shikamaru said.

"Yeah. I've only read them from books," Shino added.

Ino looked at them, incredulously. "You know what they are?"

"Are you sure that we will not arrive at some strange place?" Shikamaru asked Kanade.

"Yes. Our Minister of Science arrived at Nue through this hole."

"Hey, are you listening to me?"

"Don't worry, Ino," Shino said. "My grandfather had gone through the worm hole in the Land of Earth. He ended up in a desert in the west. He's still alive."

Sakura said, "Kanade-san, did you arrive here using a worm hole in your country?"

"Yes. It was smaller than this and could only bring you just outside of Sanmyaku, so we had to travel on foot from there. It is a closely guarded secret of our village. By the way, all worm holes are a one way passageway."

"Sakura," Ino said, "are you planning to go on with this?"

Sakura nodded. "Since some people have already tried it, I think it's not that dangerous."

"What if it's a gateway to hell?"

"Of course, not, Yamanaka-san," Kanade said. "I promised the Hokage that your safety was our main priority."

"I'm sorry if I doubted you," Shikamaru said.

"Shikamaru!"

"We'll carry on, Ino. The trip might be stressful for us, Kanade-san. Could we camp for the night to settle our nerves?"

"Sure. Let's go get some kindling."

Momoko regarded the whirlpool with uncharacteristic intensity. She remembered the feeling she had had the night before Naruto's burial, which Shizune politely dismissed.

…

That night, when Momoko was sure that everyone was already sleeping, she went beside Sakura's tent and called out her name in whispers. The campfire had become just glowing embers. The hoot of an owl intermittently pierced through the everlasting cry of the falls. Otherwise it was peaceful or what others might call _naturally_ silent.

"Sakura-chan, are you still up? Can we talk?"

There were movements inside the tent, and then she heard the zipper being pulled. She went in front of the tent and waited for Sakura. Sakura peeped in through the partly opened flap.

"Momoko?"

"Sakura-chan, there's something I want to tell you."

Sakura frowned a little at her.

"Please."

Sakura pulled the flapped completely open and went with Momoko. Momoko took her a considerable distance from the campsite.

"What is it?" Sakura said.

Momoko hesitated for a few moments. "Sakura-chan, have you ever had the feeling that something was terribly wrong even if everything was going as expected?"

"Yeah. I think so. What are you trying to say?"

"Did you have that feeling the day you learned that Naruto was dead?"

Sakura looked at her as she would look at someone telling that her father was actually a transvestite. And there was also Momoko calling him Naruto. Not even Naruto-kun, but Naruto. Formalities dropped.

"I knew it. I knew that you were the same type as Shizune-san. But I knew, too, that no other woman had ever loved Naruto more than you had."

"I see that you two were close to each other."

Momoko caught herself and blushed. "I mean—"

"It's okay."

"I'm sorry, if that's something—"

"I said it was okay."

Momoko's reluctance came back. She considered if she should push it, anymore. "Thinking about it, I think—"

"Tell me." Sakura encouraged her with a smile. "So, what is it?"

Momoko breathed deeply. "The night before the burial, I felt that something was wrong. I'm an Inuzuka and you know that. We have the gift of a more interpretable instinct. That night, I felt that the body inside that glass was not Naruto—Naruto-san. I had a strong feeling that he was still alive."

Shikamaru was listening from a nearby branch of tree. Shino was listening through his bugs. Sakura froze, regarding Momoko, blankly.

"Until now," Momoko went on, "I still feel that he is somewhere and alive. When I saw that worm hole, my assumption made some sense. It could be that—"

Sakura slapped her. The dim light from the reflection of the moon on the river that showered her face showed two streams of tears falling out her eyes. She was biting her lower lip. As Momoko reached to rub her stinging cheek, Sakura said, "Until I talk to you, don't talk to me." She turned around and walked to her tent, harshly wiping her cheeks with the back of her hands.

Momoko steeled herself and tried to chase after Sakura. After two steps, she froze in place. Shikamaru showed himself from the shadows. He had used his Shadow Manipulation Technique on her.

"Stop. Let her be," Shikamaru said.

"But—"

"It is better that way," Shino said.

"Both of you were listening?"

"Obviously," Shikamaru said. "I share the same assumption as you, Momoko. I have been planning on filing an exhumation request for the identity confirmation of Naruto's corpse, but I'm afraid of the effects that it might bring to the village. As for Sakura, what you did was a bad decision. She's still upset about Naruto's death. It's only been two weeks. Her reaction to it was just as expected."

"Sorry."

"Okay. We can try this out while we are in Sanmyaku. We have one year to ask around for him. Now, there are three possibilities to think about: one, the river had thrown him into the worm hole, and he safely arrived at Nue, two, he's already dead and his real body is out there somewhere, and three, the one buried in Konoha is really him. We won't start with the assumption that he's already dead. It's better to believe that he's still alive."

Momoko brightened up. "You'll help me?"

"Yes." _For everybody's peace of mind,_ he thought of adding, but did not.

Momoko impulsively lunged at Shikamaru and hugged him. "Thank you! Thank you!"

Shikamaru looked at Shino, and then he sighed.

…

Momoko couldn't make herself sleep. It could be because of excitement that she had finally found people who believed in her, or maybe because of Sakura. She decided that it was the latter. She got out from her tent and went to Sakura's. Sakura hadn't bothered closing the flap.

"Sakura-chan?"

There was a sniff. "Go away. I told you, didn't I? I won't talk with you."

"But—"

"Go away!"

Momoko cringed. However, she knew that nothing would change if she kept away from Sakura. She should make the first move since she was the one who made her friend that way. She crawled into the tent. Sakura was sobbing in her pillow.

"Sakura-chan…"

Sakura turned away. "Naruto is dead, okay. Please don't make it more painful for me."

"Yes. I'm sorry. I know that I said some crazy things to you. I only did that because I wanted to believe that he was still alive. Sakura, I also had…" she took a deep breath, "I also had feelings for him. I don't know how much you are hurting right now, but I hurt, too."

Sakura didn't react for a while. Then she sat up and embraced Momoko.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan."

Sakura tightened her grip around her. Momoko smiled and embraced her back. She turned her head and looked at the moon through the thickness of the trees.

…

The moon was almost full. Only a couple of days remained before it completely became a perfect circle. And Saki enjoyed watching it from under the cherry tree inside the courtyard of the main mansion of Shibari Estate. Petals were scattered on the ground, reflecting the cool light of the Night Queen.

"You can't sleep?" a shaky voice said from behind her.

Saki turned around and saw Hibarashi Shibari hobbling towards her. He was a short old man, a hundred and twenty-two years old. She hastily approached the old man and helped him sit on the ground. He was blind, but it was a mystery for her how he could move around as if his eyes were still good.

"Her light is cold, don't you think?" he asked. To talk he had to wet his lips with his toothless gums. "As cold as the aura I feel from you. What is troubling you, my child?"

Saki laughed. "Me? Nothing."

"Your words ring of lie. Your heart is frantic. Don't think that you can keep the truth from me, Saki-chan."

"You really know me." She was silent for a while. "Hibarashi-dono, do you believe in fortune telling?"

"If what the teller says are bad things, I do. If they are good, I don't."

"I don't follow you."

"Life is a struggle. Your goal as a human being should be to win that struggle. If you expect that in the end you will have good fortune, you will not take life seriously. You will always look forward to the future. Time will pass you by unnoticed. You will feel hollow at the moment of your death. But, if you expect that you will face hardships every day of your life, the victories you will have won will be meaningful to you. You will treasure the present. You will feel important because of your achievements. And at the time of your death, you will feel fulfilled."

"That's pretty deep."

"What is it about fortune telling that you want me to listen to?"

"When I was a child, a fortune teller told me that I would fall in love with a stranger. I think…I think her prediction came true. You see, I felt drawn to him the first time we met, and I surprised myself when I suddenly kissed him."

"You're undecided if you should pursue it or not."

"Yes."

"I'm old and have gone through almost everything in this world. I understand that the love you speak of could bring you happiness. It could bring you contentment. It could bring you peace. However, it could also bring you unimaginable pain. Saki-chan, everything that has a dark side will never bring you happiness. And these things always root from selfish desires. It's usually chosen by a fragile heart."

"Everything that has a dark side?"

"Yes. For instance, love has its dark side hate, peace has war, and trust has betrayal."

"Are you saying that nothing can make a person happy in this world?"

Hibarashi chuckled. "No, my dear, no. You are not listening. Everything _that_ has a dark side will never make someone happy."

"Yes. I heard you."

"I'm not saying that everything _has_ a dark side in the first place. The dark side appears when you only see things through a single point of view, and usually when you give too much importance on yourself. Listen. In making choices in life, you rely on these two: your heart and your mind. Whatever is decided by a single entity ends up having a dark side. Analyze yourself. The mind can see things based on what you have experienced before. It bases answers on your past and what you know. By doing this, you can see the consequences of the action you're planning to do. The heart is different for it sees things based on what you desire. It bases answers on things partial to your needs."

"I just don't want to regret anything."

"You can study regret in different points of view. Are you afraid to regret things you didn't do for yourself or afraid to regret things you didn't do for the sake of another?" Hibarashi smiled. "When you are not sure of what to do, consult both your heart and your mind. If they oppose each other, something must be wrong. When it comes to that, always place yourself as your last priority. It is painful, yes, but when you do that, you'll always get the right answer. Your decision will be meaningful, and it will be your victory in the end."

Saki remembered Naruto cutting his arm for Hiromi and Setsuko. _Always place yourself as your last priority. _She wiped the tears in her eyes and smiled. "Thank you, Hibarashi-dono. I know now what to do. I already forced him, anyway, to make Midori fall for him."

"That was selfish of you, Saki-chan."

"I think so, too. I'll take it back when he arrives." She chuckled.

Hibarashi reached out and enclosed Saki's hands in his. "Your time will come, my child. Live for the present, struggle, and win."

…

Naruto slept through the hours that passed. And, bit by bit, the whiskers on his face faded. Nobody noticed for his mask covered his face. Bubbles continued on rising from the floor of the aquarium.

He continued to sleep in oblivion.

_To be continued…_

Author's note: I'm sorry it took me sometime to update. I reviewed my work and revised some chapters, starting at Chapter 5, to rid them of misleading things. It's up to you if you want to reread them, but I assure you that the change was minor. Nothing to fuss over about.

Mostly, I deleted things that told explicitly that Tsuneo and Saki were husband and wife, and they were Hiromi and Midori's parents. I thought it would be effective to crush that notion in the later chapters. Well, it wasn't. It just raised questions so I revised it.

Another was the name Tamotsu Akabari; it should have been Tamotsu Shibari. I recomposed the passage to clear that up.

In chapter 14, you might notice that Setsuko called Tsuneo Tsuneo-otosan (father), instead of Tsuneo-ojisan (uncle). She was just practicing for the day she would be in Tsuneo's family again.

Smile.


	17. Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17: Second Awakening

The team stood at the edge of the precipice. The rushing sound of whirlpool was loud in their ears. Only Kanade was calm.

"Ready?" Kanade said.

Ino's eyes widened. "Right now?"

"Yes. Right now."

Shikamaru grabbed Ino's wrist. He nodded at Kanade, and then at his teammates. Ino began to cry.

"Let's do this," Shikamaru said.

Kanade jumped. Shikamaru followed, pulling Ino with him, who then screamed. Momoko thought that she was prepared, but she and Sakura couldn't move at all. Shino grabbed their wrists. Momoko felt her heart race. She glanced at Sakura. Sakura was already crying.

"Shino, can't we—" Momoko began, but Shino ignored her and jumped off the precipice. She could only scream as they plummeted down.

…

Momoko was too afraid to open her eyes. She pulled her knees to her chest. She dared not to breathe. She felt the cold water against her skin.

A pair of hands grabbed her upper arms and hauled her up onto the river bank. The heat of the sun beat at her. She felt the solid ground against her back. She opened her eyes.

"Are you all right?" Shikamaru asked. He had a large knot on the forehead.

"You're hurt."

Shikamaru offered a smile. "Ino couldn't help it."

Momoko sat up and looked around. What caught her eyes was the huge falls to her left. "Are we in Sanmyaku?"

"Yes," Kanade said. He looked over his shoulder. "That is the Kaki Falls." He pointed with his chin at the river in front of him. "That is the Kaki River. It leads to a town called Tanimori. We are in the Kingdom of Nue."

"Tanimori," Momoko muttered. "Is Tanimori far?"

"Yes. Thirteen days from here, if you know the right river to follow. Kaki River is connected to the Antlers, as we call it here. The Antlers is a complex branching of streams that come from different directions. Every river leads to a different place. Your very own Hades has a branch connected to this river."

"Are there people living along the river?"

Kanade made a what-is-this-all-about face. "Not that I know of. Anyway, Taka is in the opposite direction. We need to go up this falls and travel along the waters until we get to Min. From there, we travel by air."

"By air, you say?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yes. You'll know when we get there."

They travelled for eight days. Nobody—except Kanade, of course—expected that Min would be so far away. After their obvious teleportation from Konoha to Sanmyaku, their minds had slightly anticipated that it would be an easy trip to Taka. They were wrong. It was exhausting and boring. On the first three days, Kanade told them information about Sanmyaku, the Great War, and Taka. The Great War had ended because of a ninja called Lotus. Rumors had it that he had infiltrated the arguably impenetrable defense of Ine to talk with its leader. Lotus told the leader that he should not show apathy on the situation because in the end the winner of the war would try to invade his kingdom. The reason of the war, he said, was because of Ine's allowing the request of Kogiwara for an increase in the amount of supply it received, which Nue found suspicious. In return for his negligence, the leader of Ine should offer a treaty to stop the meaningless carnage. The treaty assured that Ine would allot forty percent of its annual harvest to each of the kingdom, which both parties agreed to. Both rulers called back their forces, and in two days, the Great War finally ceased.

"Who was this Lotus guy?" Shikamaru asked. Kanade just shrugged.

Kanade told about Sanmyaku being a closed country since then. For many years, the two kingdoms had been sending scouts to search for the doorway out of Sanmyaku. Until now, no scouts had ever come back from their expedition. When Sakura pressed the matter further, Kanade dropped the subject with, "It's not your problem, anymore. The kingdoms seem content with the current status of the country."

Since then Kanade would only tell and ask about things that were not significant. (Who has a steady relationship? How's being a Jonin been for you?) He told them that he was thirty-four, and he was still a Chuunin because he was not good at anything but diplomatic agreements.

The remaining five days were achingly boring days.

…

The last thing Naruto remembered before he woke up was standing in front of a huge fox with red, almost transparent fur. He was looking into the eyes of the fox. The fox was staring back at him. The stare of the fox was intent, but he didn't feel any ill intention from it. When he opened his mouth to speak, the fox suddenly charged at him. Before he knew it, the fox had already dived into his chest. He screamed. At least that was what he thought he did. He woke up and found himself inside the aquarium.

He realized that he was submerged in water. He panicked. He hit the glass to call attention. No one seemed to hear him. He hit the glass over and over again until he was sure he would break it. At last a white haired man with wolf's ears came in front of the glass. The wolf-man gaped at him. He asked where he was using his hands. The wolf-man did something that made him frantic. The man put his forefinger to his mouth, shushing him. Then the wolf-man calmly walked away.

His mind ran wild. He thought that the wolf-man was a bad guy, and he was there to be experimented on. He punched the glass. It broke after four attempts. Water came rushing out of the aquarium. The flush carried the wolf-man to the wall.

Naruto took off the oxygen mask from his face. He went to the wolf-man and collared him.

"Where am I?" he asked. He couldn't remember anything. His name, what he was…everything.

The wolf-man tried to open his mouth, but he fainted.

Naruto looked around. No one was there but the wolf-man. What time was it? The man surely couldn't attend to every machine in the room. He must have a companion, at least—

A block in the wall opened inward. Naruto took cover behind a machine.

"Agho, here are—what the—what's happened here? Agho! Agho!"

Naruto peeked from the corner of the machine and saw a wolf-woman. The wolf-woman found Agho.

"Agho! Wake up, Agho!"

Naruto grabbed the chance. He hit the nape of the wolf-woman. She fell forward over Agho's body. Both she and Agho would be sleeping until someone woke them up and tell them that Naruto was in town and being chased by the townsfolk. When he was sure that both were unconscious, he went out of the entryway and arrived at a room. The place was dim, only lit by glowing chunks of rocks. However, the lighting was not a problem to his eyes. He could see clearly in the darkness even though he couldn't remember how. He saw the stairway and climbed up to the top. He arrived at a large library. An old wolf-man was seated at a desk in the far corner of the room, reading a book. As he took a step forward, the old wolf-man stirred and turned around. He escaped his eyes by jumping towards the ceiling. His hair hung on his face. He realized that his hair was actually long. The old wolf-man turned back to what he was doing. He decided to wait. He decreased the intake of air, so that his breathing wouldn't make a perceivable sound.

He was not sure how many hours had passed. He had kept his attention on the back of the old wolf-man. Light was finally coming in from the small window up in the wall. The beam struck the desk where the old wolf-man was. The old wolf-man snuffed the fire of his lamp and closed his book. He stretched, muttered something under his breath when his back creaked, and went to the door. The moment the old wolf-man opened the door, Naruto lunged for it. He saw the old wolf-man's astonished expression as he got out from that library.

He ran on all fours, like a dog, and he was fast. He could have provided a show for the wolf-girls, but his speed blurred all of his exposed body parts. He ignored everything. All he wanted to do was to escape from that strange place.

Suddenly, a black-haired wolf-man blocked his path. He stopped.

"Master!" said the wolf-man. "You should not be running naked in here."

Master? He was this wolf-man's master? What was going on? "I don't know what you're talking about," he said. "What is this place? And who are you?"

"I'm Bakuryu, Master," the wolf-man said.

Naruto heard a commotion from behind him. He looked around and saw the old wolf-man running towards him. With the old wolf-man was a group of wolf-folk.

"I have to escape," he said.

"What? But, Master—"

He couldn't wait anymore. The group behind him was closing in. He must escape. He found himself doing some weird thing with his hands. What was he doing? Suddenly, he knew the answer. "Earth Release: Earth Wall!" From the ground up, a dam-like earth structure grew, covering the passageway and blocking his pursuers.

"Master, we're not enemies!"

He did another series of hand seals. "Body Immobilizing Technique!" He saw that the black-haired wolf-man had stopped moving. He ran past him. "I'm sorry!" he said. "I just need to escape from here!"

He still couldn't believe what he had done. What was he? Why did he know such an incredible skill? The first technique had become the inception of everything. He could see in his mind a long list of techniques. He didn't remember ever studying them, but somehow he knew. Somehow he remembered that part of his life. However, the other part, the part that was more important, he had completely forgotten. He didn't even know his name, for crying out loud! He laughed. His situation interested him. He thought that he must be a very strong fighter, someone feared and special. That must be why he had been abducted. It was to study why he was so strong—

A hand covered his mouth, and he found himself being pulled into a corner. A pretty white-haired wolf-woman had her hand over his mouth. Coming to think of it, everyone that he had seen until now was pretty. Even the wolf-man who was calling himself Bakuryu was beautiful. The wolf-woman seemed waiting for something.

He couldn't feel anything bad from her. Her presence was actually warm, as if she was used to taking care of someone. And she was lovely. He stared at her. She was really pretty. He couldn't find any flaw on her. What was she, a goddess? The ears of the wolf-woman were folded backwards. They were covered in soft, white fur, and their insides were pink. He grew curious of them and reached out. Once he touched the wolf-woman's ear, she almost shrieked. She looked at him, blushing, and tears were on her eyes.

"Why did you do that?"

"They're real."

"Of course, they are!"

"I'm sorry. I was just intrigued by them."

"Just don't do it, again."

"Okay."

"I'm trying to hide you from—" The woman looked horrified. Her eyes rolled down to his midsection. She took her hand away from his mouth and slapped him. "That's it! I'm not helping you anymore." She turned around and walked away. Her tail made a sweep in disdain.

Naruto realized that he was naked, and because it was cold, his penis had stood up. He could swear it was not because of the wolf-woman. "Wait!" he said. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking dirty thoughts! It is cold here, you know. Could you help me find some clothes?" He covered himself with his hands.

The woman kept standing for a few moments. "Okay. I'll get you something to wear." She made a step, but suddenly stopped. "Just so you know, even if I'm just a summoning beast, I'm still a woman. Don't forget that."

_Summoning beast?_ _Maybe that's what they are called. _"Sorry," he said in a small voice. "May I come with you? You see…"

"Sure. Just keep covering yourself."

The woman led him into a big, white tree with overhanging branches. They had approached the tree from the back. When he tried to follow the woman to the front of the house, the woman told him to stay. There were some wolf-folk nearby. So he crouched between two exposed branches and waited for her. The wolf-woman brought him a white robe.

"I hope it fits you. It's my husband's. It might be a bit too big," she said.

Naruto took the robe and hastily wrapped himself with it. "Thank you."

"Wait here for a while until I tell you that it's safe to go out."

Naruto nodded. The wolf-woman began to leave. "Hey, what's your name?"

"I'm Haruki, Naruto-sama," she said without stopping.

"Your name is Haruki Narutosama?"

The wolf-woman didn't reply. After a while, he heard a door close.

…

Haruki went upstairs to Kinjo's room. She sat on the edge of the bed and gently shook Kinjo.

"Honey, wake up. I have something important to tell you," she said.

Kinjo opened her eyes. "Haruki." He sat up and gave her a lick on the cheek. "Is Setsuko already here?"

"No." She told him what had happened.

Kinjo hurriedly got out of bed and ran to the back of his house. Haruki was behind him.

"Where? Where is he?"

Haruki frowned. "I just left him here. Where did he go?"

Kinjo found some torn fabric on the ground. He sniffed it and grew worried.

…

Naruto ran through the woods. Sweat flowed down his face. He grimaced because of the pain in his stomach, and one hand tried to dig into it. Nothing covered his upper body. He had torn his robe the moment he felt the pain. He couldn't help it.

Water. That was all he could think of. Cold water where he could dive into. He thought that water would quench the heat in his stomach.

A jutting rock tripped him, and he lost his balance. Down the slope he rolled until he reached the bottom. His face hit water. He reached out, groped, and felt the edge of the stream. He pulled himself forward. The river welcomed him and swallowed him whole.

Bubbles came from the bottom to the surface, passing him by. His descent was slow, languorous, but frighteningly continuous. Above the light was growing small. The darkness was stretching to his right and left, from his feet and head, seemingly infinite. He accepted the darkness and the coldness of the water. As long as the pain that had made his hand tear his robe with a kind of insurgency he wouldn't have permitted left his stomach, he was happy to accept anything. He began to feel better.

It was his opinion, and it was not real. He thought that it was a kind of flame inside him that had brought the pain, but it was not. It was the seal over his navel. The Demon Fox's chakra was beginning to mix with his chakra, and the seal, being its regulator, was reacting to the activity. No water or darkness or coldness could dissolve the pain. He didn't know that. His relief from it was just an intermittent pause.

The pain came back, and now it was close to his heart. He felt the pressure of water on his eyes as he opened them wide. His hands scratched at his chest until blood drifted out and curled like smoke above him. His eyes went wild. The muscles at his jaws contracted and relaxed. The veins on his neck bulged out. Now he was doing a silly kind of swim even the fishes would find funny. But his situation was not funny. It had already been over a minute since he dived in. He forgot that he needed air to live. He was oblivious of the pain in his lungs because the pain in his stomach exceeded it many folds over.

As he opened his mouth, bubbles of air escaped, and water flushed into his throat. Now he couldn't ignore it anymore. He was dying, but he couldn't do something about it. He looked up. Everything seemed out of focus somehow. Everything became dull in his eyes.

The last pair of whiskers on his cheeks, the pair nearest his jaw line, disappeared.

He screamed.

…

The wolf-folks out of their trees, the dogs out of their houses, and the creatures who could interpret what they saw, witnessed how a bright, yellow light shot out towards the sky, going through clouds and parting them into hoops. Setsuko, who had no idea what was happening and was casually walking to Kinjo's house, felt a chill run up her spine. The dogs and the wolf-folk alike were intimidated with the light. Some who could not stand it locked themselves up in their residences.

Paku jerked his head towards the light. "Naruto…?" He found himself running towards it. He didn't care if it was the wolves' territory he would be entering. "Naruto, I know it's you! No one has a chakra like this but you. There's only one Demon Fox in the world. I knew it! You were alive!" He looked at his feet. Disappointed, he cursed. "Why was I born a pug? I meant to be a Great Dane!"

"Paku!" Baba called out. She was sitting on a black Siberian husky as big as a horse. Literally, as big as a horse. Her curly white hair with red-flame edges almost touched the ground. The Siberian husky caught up with Paku. "Jump in!" Paku leaped onto her, landing on her lap. "Sabra, faster," she told the husky. Sabra leaned forward and accelerated.

Kinjo, the Elder, and Bakuryu nodded at each other. The Elder ordered the other wolf-folk not to follow, and then the three fled to the woods. Haruki herded her puppies inside the tree house, knelt down, and hugged them. The pillar of light thinned down until it disappeared from sight. However, the hostile pressure was still there.

Cujo was the one who reached the forest first. He was a lean man with long, gray hair braided into small ropes on his head. He wore an unbuttoned shirt that wildly flapped against his torso. Silver earrings covered his ears.

Naruto was inside a yellow ball, curled like fetus in a womb. He was naked again. The burst of chakra had burned the remains of his robe that covered his thighs, as it erupted out his body. He was floating in air.

"Master…"

Naruto slowly straightened up. The ball went down until Naruto's feet touched the surface of water. The hole that the beam of light had dug out was sucking water now and a giant whirlpool had appeared directly over it. Naruto walked over the whirlpool, climbing from the eye as he would do on a ramp.

Cujo ran to him. "Master, are you all right?" He raised his hand to touch Naruto's shoulder.

Suddenly, Naruto jerked his head to him. He held Cujo's wrist and threw him towards the trees. Cujo was dumbfounded.

Cujo shook his head and tried to get up. "Master, it's me, Cujo. I'm not your enemy."

Bakuryu reached the bottom of the ravine and helped Cujo up. "What's happened here?"

The Elder and Kinjo arrived next.

"I don't know. When I reached this place, Naruto-sama was floating inside a yellow ball. Then he walked over the water to where he is standing now. I tried to touch him, but he suddenly threw me away."

Bakuryu stared at Naruto. "I don't feel any ill intention coming from him."

Setsuko arrived. "Father? What's going on?"

"It seems that he's in a trance," the Elder said.

Setsuko frowned. "What? This idiot." She marched up to Naruto. "Hey, are you—"

"No! Setsuko-sama!" Cujo cried but was too late.

Naruto grabbed Setsuko and flung her towards the river. Her body tore the water surface, and then she hit a tree on the other side.

"Setsuko!" Kinjo called out. He frowned at Naruto. "What is happening to him, Elder?"

"Look at his eyes. He's unconscious. He must be in a state where his unconscious defenses have taken over his mind and are blindly protecting him from outside threats. He doesn't know what he's doing."

"You want a fight, eh." Setsuko used the tree behind her to stand up. "I'll give you a fight. Let's see how I'll fare against you after I've learned my bloodline limit capabilities." She released her chakra. Naruto felt it.

Kinjo blanched. "No, Setsuko, stand back!"

"Iron Release: Chains of the Underworld!"

Chains shot out directly beneath Naruto and tried for his ankles. Naruto jumped to avoid the iron chains and disappeared into thin air. He materialized beside Setsuko, sending a knee to her face. Setsuko smiled confidently.

"Hand to hand? I also have the stuff I need when it comes to that."

She caught his knee and pushed herself up using it as a lever. The training on the ropes had lent her the quickness and lightness she now possessed. She pressed on his head with her hands, twisted, and let her knees swing down to his back. Naruto grabbed her forearms and suddenly tossed his feet to the air. Setsuko's shins and knees hit the ground. She briefly shrieked at the pain as the pebble-filled surface scraped the skin off her shins and knees. Naruto landed on his feet. He made a Rasengan and went back to Setsuko in an incredibly quick transition. Setsuko could not even blink.

Before Naruto could connect, he jerked towards the danger coming to his right. He faced it and used his Rasengan to neutralize the attack. It was Kinjo's Sonic Fangs.

"Bakuryu!" Kinjo said.

"Roger." Bakuryu charged up, his muscles bulging beneath his clothes. He leaned forward and launched himself towards Setsuko. He was there in no time. He gathered Setsuko up and brought him over to the other side. Naruto just looked at them, letting his hand drop to his side.

"What are we going to do?" Cujo asked.

"We just let him be," the Elder said, caressing his long beard. "He will not attack if he doesn't feel any threats."

"It hurts," Setsuko muttered. "That damn brat!"

Kinjo gathered her up in his arms. "Don't be conceited, Setsuko. You said it yourself. He was doing something insane in his training. You'll not defeat him until you become a Sage. Possibly, not even then."

"Then make me a Sage!"

"It's not that easy. You haven't mastered your bloodline limit, yet."

"Then tell me everything about me. You only told me about my bloodline limit."

"No." Kinjo turned to the Elder. "I'm going back, Elder. I have to mend my spoiled daughter's legs."

Setsuko puffed her cheeks. "I'm not spoiled!"

"Don't worry," the Elder said. "Someone is coming who possibly knows something about what is happening."

"Someone is coming? It might be Baba. She must have seen the pillar of light," Bakuryu said. "I'll take Setsuko-sama, Kinjo. You should wait for her here."

"I'll stay here, too," Setsuko said, but she couldn't do anything when Kinjo passed her over to Bakuryu.

"Cujo, you come with me, too. You're also hurt." Bakuryu began to walk up the slope amidst Setsuko's protests.

"All right," Cujo said. "Kinjo-sama, please don't let anything happen to Master."

Kinjo nodded. "I'll die first before that happens."

Cujo threw a last glance at Naruto, and then followed Bakuryu.

"You were not this loyal to your first master on the first days of your service to him," the Elder said.

"I can't explain it, Elder. He just seems to be that kind of guy."

"I'm sorry, by the way. I discovered that he had escaped the vat two hours before sunrise. He waited somewhere without me sensing him. I'm ashamed because I'm a wolf and I should have smelled his scent. I'm really getting old."

"That's not the problem. I wonder if it would have made any difference. As he is, you wouldn't have been able to stop him."

The Elder nodded and caressed his beard. "Yes. You have a point."

After a little later, Sabra shot out of the woods and stood in front of them. Baba and Paku dismounted from the husky's back. At the sight of Naruto, Paku almost dived into the water to get to him. Baba caught his scruff and set him down.

"Easy, Paku. It's not the time to bother him. He's here but he's not."

_To be continued…_


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18: Space of Transition

"Is he the boy you were talking about?" Baba asked Paku.

Paku squinted at Naruto. The young man had shoulder-length, ash-colored hair. He was considerably thinner than the Naruto he remembered. Instead of a simple circular seal at his navel, there was now an ornate marking covering his chest and extending to his back. Appearance-wise, this was not Naruto, Paku surmised. But there was another thing: the chakra. He focused his senses to determine if it was the Demon Fox's. The chakra was intimidating, indeed. Quite immeasurable in quantity. He hadn't experienced something as strong as this before. Orochimaru's was threatening, too, but not because it was massive like the young man's. It was because Orochimaru's chakra was filled with evil. The only resemblance of the young man's chakra to Naruto's was its warmth, like sunlight. Where did it go? Just earlier he had been sure that he felt the Demon Fox's chakra. He went in front of Kinjo.

"Is he Naruto? Uzumaki Naruto?" Paku asked.

The Elder began to speak, but Kinjo stopped him. "No. His name is Asahi."

"Asahi?" Paku turned to the boy, and then back to Kinjo again. "No. I don't believe you. You're lying. That boy is Naruto. Tell me, Kinjo. Please."

"He's Asahi, Paku. A mercenary under Lotus." Kinjo remembered what Hashirama had told the team. Before Naruto woke up the day they were about to leave for Tanimori, Hashirama told them this.

"Naruto-kun will be Asahi from now on. If anyone asks you—anyone—you consider suspicious, never tell his true identity or any information about him. I found him almost as good as dead in the river. I'm sure he has many enemies, and they were the one who did that to him. I want you to swear on your name and on your life."

And they had. Hashirama added that it was also customary so that they would avoid suspicion.

"Kinjo, everyone in Konoha believes that he's already dead. I can't forget the faces they made on the day of his burial. Konoha considers him a hero."

Kinjo stared at Paku, guilt pinching his resolve. He wanted badly to tell the dog that the boy was indeed Uzumaki Naruto. But Hashirama was right. He had experienced something like this before. Before he married Haruki, he had broken an oath and trusted a friend he was sure would never betray him. He didn't know that his friend was already a summon of the enemy. He told about Haruki's master to his friend. The enemy was able to prepare and killed Haruki's master, easily. It was almost fifty years ago, but he still remembered it. The expression his friend had used to convince him was the expression he was seeing on Paku right now. It was hard to tell.

"Please, Kinjo," Paku prodded on.

Kinjo looked at Baba, and the latter understood. The Elder sighed.

"Is he the one, Paku?" Baba said. "If he is, then say yes."

Paku looked at Naruto. He searched for the whiskers on his face. There was none, but he wouldn't let it go. "I'm sure he is. I can feel it."

"You seem uncertain. I need a concrete answer."

Paku looked at Kinjo, then at the Elder, then at Baba, again. He turned around to Naruto one more time with a hopeful expression on his face.

"So?"

Paku bowed his head and shook it. "No," he muttered.

Baba reached out and patted Paku's head. "I'm sorry, Paku. Sometimes, it's best to accept things even if it hurts. As for the boy…" She stared at Naruto for a long time. "He is currently suspended between Shiriai and Shihai—"

"Baba, you've lived for a long time," Paku cut in. "Didn't you feel it? He has the Kyubi, right?"

"As the co-founder of the Village of Dogs, I haven't been outside our world before. I heard about the Bijus and the stages of taming them, but I haven't seen an actual Biju before. I only heard these things from the citizens who had spared some of their precious time to tell me information about the human world. I wouldn't be able to distinguish between the Ichibi and the Kyubi if I was in front of them. I'm sorry, Paku. I don't know if his Biju is the Kyubi or another one of the nine. All I'm sure of is that the boy is in Hensen no Kuusho. He's inside an empty space where he doesn't own his existence."

"What do you advise us to do, Baba?" Kinjo asked.

"I'll take him to the Founder. He will be safe there, and I can personally watch over him."

"He doesn't let anyone go near him," Kinjo said.

"Don't worry." Baba walked on the water. The whirlpool had already stopped. Baba crossed the river as regal as she always was. Her hair trailed her, floating like a white cape from her head. Naruto watched her.

When she was in front of Naruto, Baba reached out and touched his face. There was a small flinch from him, but that was all.

"How can she do that?" Kinjo asked.

"Baba is a pure being," the Elder said. "Asahi-kun doesn't feel anything untoward from her."

"What a beautiful child," Baba said. She looked at the marking on Naruto's body. She trailed the marking on his chest with her forefinger, going down and down. She didn't intend it to be, but her caress would seem a gesture of seduction to anyone who saw. "The seal is tracing the Biju and is protecting your Death Gate. Quite a reliable seal this is." She looked over her shoulder. "I'm taking him, now." She enfolded Naruto in her arms. They became light that shot to the sky and curved down somewhere beyond the forest.

"They're gone," Kinjo said.

"Paku, I'll take you to the border," the Elder said.

Paku looked up at Kinjo. "Kinjo, Naruto was my friend. No, he's still my friend until this day. Please, don't keep things from me."

"He is Asahi, Paku."

"Shit." Paku began to trot away, and then he stopped. "I still believe that he's Naruto. I'll find out the truth, Kinjo." He walked away.

Kinjo and the Elder exchanged looks of concern. Kinjo shook his head. The Elder nodded and followed Paku.

…

Min was a village of plateaus. Every plateau was connected to each other by long, sagging foot bridges. When they reached the first plateau, Kanade informed them that at the moment they were four thousand meters from sea level. It was obvious since the surroundings were covered with fog, and it was cold. "Put on your sweaters," Kanade advised.

The first plateau was actually a booking station. Kanade did the arrangements with an old fat woman, who was fascinated in seeing foreigners. She made much of them, especially of the girls, who, for her, the prettiest girls she had ever seen. Shikamaru doubtfully looked at them and sighed. Ino kicked his butt.

Kanade led them across a long foot bridge. Along the way, Shikamaru threw up twice. Ino was still mad at him, and knowing that he was bad at heights—even though he had been calm jumping into the worm hole—she deliberately shook the foot bridge. She only stopped when Shino chastised her for being like a child. Ino attempted to counter, but just seeing Shino's face made her feel like backing out.

Then they reached the terminal. Kanade enjoyed the look on their faces as they arrived on the pterodactyls. They were two times larger than horses, but they might be as big as a house once they spread their wings. The pterodactyls had a single seat attached on its back just below the neck so that the calves of the rider could be comfortably slung over the bird's shoulders.

"I'm staying," Ino said.

"What?" Shikamaru replied.

"I'm staying here! I will never ride a monster like that!"

"Don't worry," Kanade said. "There are also two-seaters. I'll ride with you."

Kanade approached a keeper and made the arrangements. The keeper was delighted on seeing foreigners in twenty-six years. He even called out his colleagues to wish them a safe trip. Kanade rented a two-seater. The large pterodactyl was huge, maybe three times larger, and when it spread its wings, they had three layers.

"Is Yamanaka-san the only one who wants a chaperone?" Kanade said.

Ino blushed furiously. "Okay! I'm a baby! I'm a scaredy-cat! Go on and laugh!"

No one did. The keeper helped them up on their seats and told them the basics. The pterodactyls were like horses, generally. The rider could control the direction by the reins. The birds would fly even if the riders just sat back on their seats. Usually, when a Goza, a two-seater, was in a flock, the smaller birds tend to follow it. Just behave while at flight and don't do anything that might startle the birds, a keeper said. Okay was the general response of the team.

The ninjas grabbed their reins. Kanade nodded and with a flick on his reins, his pterodactyl started for the edge of the plateau. The Goza harked at the imminent drop and spread its wings. It kicked the ground and soared. The smaller pterodactyls did the same, and finally they were flying.

"Whoa!" Momoko blurted out. "This is fantastic!" Momoko tried the reins and made her bird do a three hundred and sixty-degree turn in the air that induced a wild cheer from the keepers. "This is great!"

"Be careful!" Kanade yelled. "We'll be flying for forty-five minutes!"

…

They flew and enjoyed the scenery. The clouds were so white. Sometimes a gap would show a view of the greenery on the ground and the gleaming snow caps of Sanmyaku cordillera. Sometimes they could see bodies of water and yellow green rice fields, sown in different patterns. But mostly, it was the sky they enjoyed watching. Especially Sakura. Sakura had leaned on her backseat, had let the cold breeze blow on her face, and had let the sun beat at her skin. Her skin was bright red now. Through her slightly opened eyelids, she stared at the blue sky and reminisced about the man that she loved. _Are you there, Naruto? Are you looking at me right now? _She smiled and formed on her lips the words, "I love you. I don't know if I will ever love anyone else as much as I loved you. It's very painful for me that I wasn't able to tell you this. I hope you forgive me."

After a few more minutes, Kanade shouted over his shoulder. "We're almost there!"

Sakura looked ahead and saw an amazing sight. A cluster of islands were floating in the air. There were big ones that had greenery on top. There were also small ones that surrounded the cluster, hovering like sentinels on guard. Pterodactyls flew from island to island. It must be the primary transportation here, Sakura thought.

On a small island ahead, a man was waving white flags. Kanade told the team that they were landing. The Goza made a headlong plunge. Ino screamed and some of her tears hit Sakura's face. As the Goza neared the island, it flapped its wings and landed on its feet, harking repeatedly. The smaller pterodactyls did the same. The keepers, who had been staying from the heat in small shacks, got out with water and water melons. After the riders dismounted, the keepers splashed the heads of the birds with water and fed them water melons. Kanade explained that a long flight dehydrated the pterodactyls, and they should be replenished immediately or they would faint or might run amok. He added that after their pterodactyls had rested, they would continue to the main island so he could introduce them to the Tsubasakage.

"Welcome to Taka," Kanade said with a smile.

…

Baba was standing in the darkness, standing on the surface of water that made up the floor of the main chamber of the Holy Cave. Using her powers, she had tied Naruto with chains and covered his body with incantations written on rectangular pieces of paper. Naruto was spread-eagled at the center of the chamber. He was asleep.

"Baba," thundered a voice. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, Founder."

"My chakras might contaminate him."

"Don't worry. He has a Biju."

"Yes, I know. But…"

"Your concern seems different to what is coming out your mouth." She giggled.

"It is. Your scent is all over him. Baba, you know that I still love you. You're hurting me this way."

"Let's not discuss it here, Kiri-sama." She turned around. A beautiful man with straight, black hair, which reached the ground like hers did, appeared to block her way. He was tall, a head taller than her, and she had to raise her chin to look at him.

"I love you, Baba."

Baba smiled. She touched his cheek. "I know. Thank you for that."

"Please, at least, let me kiss you."

"She loves another man," Naruto muttered.

Baba was instantly in front of him. "Shush, my child. Don't talk no more."

Tears ran down Naruto cheeks. "I love her, but she loves another man. It hurts. I love her, but she doesn't love me."

Baba wiped Naruto's tears and looked inquiringly over her shoulder at Kiri. Kiri averted his eyes and slowly disappeared.

"It hurts," Naruto said, and returned to sleep.

…

Zuko summoned Setsuko up that evening. He was surprised to see her with bandaged legs.

"Wow. It seems that your training has gone up a notch. What happened to your legs?"

Setsuko snorted. "I didn't have any training today. There was a fuss over the kid. And this?" She lifted a leg. "He did this to me."

"Naruto-kun woke up?"

"Are you listening? I said he did this to me."

"Tell me what happened."

"Naruto-san woke up this morning. He escaped the vat and ran around the Wolf District. He had already fallen into a trance-like state when we found him. We tried to approach him, but he threw us away. I fought him, but he defeated me, giving me this injury. I was taken to Father's house, so I don't know what happened after that. Father said that Baba took him somewhere. Father wouldn't tell me. By the way, he wanted you to go with me tomorrow."

"He was in a trance?"

"Yes. The Elder said that he was unconscious the whole time we were trying to approach him."

"He's in the transition stage to Shihai."

"That's it. That's the term."

"All right. I'll go with you. I want to know Naruto-kun's condition, too."

"Don't worry. He's fine. My Father said that there was nothing to worry about. He was more worried about the pills. He's afraid they would have a negative effect if Naruto-san suddenly stopped taking them."

"No, there'll be no negative effects." Zuko stood up. "Dinner is ready. I was just waiting for you. Can you stand up?"

"Everyone is worrying for me over nothing. Of course, I can stand up." But she grunted when she stretched her legs and almost fell. Zuko started for her. She raised a hand. "I'm fine, okay. I can handle myself."

…

Hashirama was cutting the branches of his bonsai when he felt a throb in his chest. He smiled. "So, it's starting. Hmmm…isn't it a little too early?"

…

Naruto woke up in a clearing in a forest. The sun was shining through the leaves of the trees. Birds were conversing with each other, and he could also hear a river from somewhere. He was wearing a green robe, like the Sandaime used to wear. The sun was warm on his skin. The air smelled like grass and earth. The place was ideal if he were to retire from his hectic life. A man in a red samurai armor walked out from the trees. Birds were on his head and shoulders. Naruto frowned at the man. He had seen him somewhere. The first face carved on the mountain behind the Hokage's office appeared in his mind. He stood up and pointed a finger at the man.

"Y-y-y-you're the Shodai Hokage!"

Hashirama laughed. "There's nothing to fuss over about. Relax. I'm not a ghost." A beat. "Well, technically, I am."

"I thought so! You're already dead!"

Hashirama tossed Naruto an apple. "It's good. Try it." He bit on the one in his hand.

"Am I dead? Is this heaven?"

Hashirama laughed, again. "No, you're not. You're in Hensen no Kuusho, Space of Transition. Actually, the real Hensen no Kuusho was a bit uncomfortable so I made this up using my chakra." Off Naruto's frown, he added, "This is a creation of my mind, in other words." Naruto was still silent. "Have you already forgotten about your conversation with your father and mother?"

"No."

"It's basically the same."

"Wait. My mother explained that she managed to talk with me because father had incorporated some of her chakra inside my body. But you died before I was born. I don't understand how you can speak to me in spite of the fact that you had no way of incorporating your chakra into my body."

"I did it while you slept in the dojo."

"Are you kidding me? As far as I'm concerned, I haven't met you…" He trailed off. Slowly, his face smoothed out as he remembered the recent events in the past weeks.

"Your chakra has been erratic and it affected your memory bank. You must have been experiencing a wheel of fortune kind of recollection."

"What's that?"

"You know, randomly remembering things, randomly forgetting some. But I see in your face that you remember everything now."

"Yeah." It was almost a whisper, and there was a bit of confusion in his voice. A little of disbelief, even. "Hiromi-chan found me at the river bank, Tsuneo-san's family took care of me, I fought with Zuko-san…and you were there." He looked at a lone flower near a root of a tree. "This morning I was inside an aquarium, I broke out from it, get chased naked, used some techniques that I hadn't used before, ran into the woods, dived into the river, and then…and then this." He looked at Hashirama, inquiringly. "I even remember things in my childhood, the boys I trapped in a hole I had dug, the tadpoles I took home in bottles, the way I ate with my hands, the taste of rubber nipples when I was being fed with a bottle…how is this happening? Hashirama-ojisan, this is creeping me out. Just this morning, I'm sure I couldn't even remember my name. But now, it seems that I remember everything that I have experienced since the day I was born." _And Sasuke…I couldn't save Sasuke…_He pushed the memory aside.

"That's what I meant by wheel of fortune kind of recollection. Now that the chakra supply in your brain has stabilized, it's the expected outcome. And because the amount of chakra in your channels is enormous right now, your brain limiters have also been lifted. You are now using one hundred percent of your brain's total potential. That's why you remember everything that registered your brain since you were a child."

"One hundred percent? Does that mean…?"

"While you are in that state, your IQ is above 200. But it's only temporary. Once you wake up in the real world, your brain will return to normal."

"Is this the stage of Shihai? Have I already attained it?"

"Not yet. Right now, your two chakras are fighting for dominion. The part of your mind that detects danger transported you in this place so that you won't go insane because of the pain."

"Then how can I attain Shihai?"

"You'll do it from the inside. Did you finish Zuko's training?"

"No. The last thing I remember is I was training to control the flow rate of my chakra."

"That's a pity. Zuko's training was all about gaining mastery over your chakra. Because you didn't finish it, you now need to master your chakra from the inside. I'd say that it's more difficult. Here, you need to grab your chakra as if it's something tangible and mold it into its required shape. Gaining mastery from the outside is more practical and a lot easier, since here you are separated from your physical body. Anyway, you have a genius's brain right now, so I think it would not be that big of a problem. And one more thing. Currently, your body is undergoing relentless death and regeneration of cells. If you failed to attain Shihai fast enough, you might wake up an old man."

"Ehhh?"

Hashirama shrugged. "It's the toll for rushing too much."

"This is unfair! I was just trying to establish balance because I always fell. I didn't know that it would lead to this."

"You can't regret now. You have no choice but to do this. Attain Shihai or die early." Hashirama took another bite from his apple. "Have a bite. It's really good."

Naruto regarded his apple and lifted it up to his mouth. He took a bite. "It has no taste."

Hashirama laughed.

_To be continued…_


	19. Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19: Hashirama's Past (Part 1)

The world Hashirama had created with his chakra was amazing. The place was as real as it should be. There was a sun. There was earth. It didn't feel like an illusion at all.

Naruto stared at Hashirama as he rolled the apple in his hand.

Hashirama noticed his stare. "Your face is saying, 'How can it be? He should be dead. How is this possible? Is he immortal?'"

Naruto blushed. "No. Not really."

"Don't be too reserved. I'm planning to tell you everything, anyway."

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"But there are things that you should know first before you can fully understand."

"Before we begin, I want to ask how you were able to know that my parents had talked with me."

"There are still some remnants of their chakras in you, but they are already too small to materialize as your parents."

"How did you know that they were my parents'?"

"It's because I knew your parents."

Naruto frowned.

"Let's get to that later, okay. But now, let's talk about chakra. Swordsmen can intone their will in their swords by putting their chakras in them. This is the reason why some ancient swords are branded as cursed blades. Do you know why?"

"I don't know. Nobody in my past has ever told me about that, yet."

"It's because our chakra is our true existence. It contains our will. It has our entirety: our personality, memories, ideals, and aspirations."

"Our soul."

"Yes. The body is just a casing. Without the soul, it dies. But the soul doesn't need a body to exist."

Naruto nodded.

"Even after a person dies, it is still possible to communicate with the living using chakra. All he needs to do is to find a medium before the moment of his death. If he dies without finding a medium, he will continue to exist, but he will never be able to interact with the physical world again. You were your parents' medium. Minato imparted some of his and Kushina's chakra into you before the Death God extracted his soul."

"But what my father put in me was only a small amount. Nevertheless, they talked as if they remembered everything in their lifetime."

"Chakra, even just a drop of it, is a person's existence. Its quantity determines the length an existence may stay in a medium. They couldn't stay for long, right?"

"Yes. I could only talk with them for a few minutes."

"If Minato had more time before the Shiki Fuujin took its toll, he could have given you more. But as it was, he could not."

Naruto smiled. "Don't worry. I know they tried their best. I'm satisfied with it."

"I'm happy to hear that." He took a bite from his apple. "In living things, a small amount of chakra permits a short lifespan while a big amount allows longevity. The Uzumaki clan of Uzushiogakure and the Hoshikagi clan of Kirigakure were known to possess massive amount of chakra comparable to a Biju. That's why they had a long lifespan and aged slowly."

"The first time I became Kakashi-sensei's student, he said that I could last long in battles because my chakra was exceptionally immense."

"Yes, because you're an Uzumaki. And that's the reason you're a Jinchuriki. Jinchurikis should have either a massive amount of chakra or a special type of chakra. If you had become Jinchuriki while being an ordinary person, the Biju would have already taken control over you or killed you. Your father decided to make you Jinchuriki because you had the Uzumaki chakra. In other words, he knew that the size of your chakra could match the massive chakra of the Kyubi."

"Are you saying that my chakra when I was born was already as big as the Kyubi's?"

"The size of a person's chakra never changes until the moment of death. It is the body that adapts to the chakra as a person grows."

"I see. So that's why there are geniuses like Kakashi-sensei who is rumored to have defeated adults in his childhood years."

"Yes. Geniuses are born with the acuity that lets them notice the presence of their chakra early in their lives. While average people concentrate on mastering techniques or making their body tough, geniuses spend their time mastering their chakras. So age doesn't really matter in the world of warriors."

"You said that chakra had our memories. Does it mean that if someone hit you with a technique, you can have his memories? Techniques are made from our chakra, right?"

"No. If the user doesn't intend to do that specific purpose, you won't."

"Then chakra can either be just a mass of energy or a piece of a person's existence. It depends on the owner's will."

"Exactly my point. But you should not disregard the fact that chakra is still your soul. Even if you don't intend it, some Sennins can learn everything about you with your chakra alone."

"I understand."

Hashirama smiled. "Those are the chakra concepts that I want you to know first. They have a big part in the story that I'm about to tell you."

…

The ten-year old Hashirama watched as the sprout grew out from the ground. He enjoyed watching small plants pushing their way out of the soil and unfolding their leaves to catch sunlight. He knew that among his friends he was the only one who could experience that joy. He was the only child in Senju village who could already control his chakra like a Kage.

"Onii-chan!"

Small arms enfolded his neck and the warm softness of a child's tummy pushed against his back. He had to push with his arms to protect the small plant from being crushed.

"Happy birthday, onii-chan!"

"Tobirama, you idiot! I almost crushed the seedling!"

Young Tobirama peered over Hashirama's shoulder. "Did I startle you? I'm sorry. I just want to give you a present."

"A present? Hey, get off my back so I can stand up."

Tobirama got off.

He faced his brother. "So, what did you get for me?"

Tobirama reached inside his robe. He frowned and groped inside. "Where did it go?"

"Where did what go?"

"The—" Tobirama screamed and frantically reached out for his back. "Onii-chan, it's biting me!" He spun around and around. "Onii-chan!" He began to cry.

Hashirama went to the rescue. "Stay still!" After a few seconds, he got from Tobirama's back a large stag beetle. Tobirama was still crying. "Wow. This is huge."

Tobirama sobbed. "I caught it for you. Hope you like it."

He gave young Tobirama a hug. "Thanks. This is cool, Tobirama."

"Really?" Tobirama sniffed, and then smiled. "I'm happy you like it."

Hashirama pulled a thread from his robe and tied one leg of the beetle with it. He tossed it in air. The beetle hovered, buzzing enthusiastically to get way. The thread stretched. Hashirama gave the end of the thread to Tobirama. Tobirama forgot that it was his gift to his big brother.

…

When the siblings reached their mansion, a pleasing girl met them at the doorway. She was fifteen.

"Hashirama-sama, your grandfather wants to talk with you."

"Thank you, Che-san."

Che smiled. "You're always as polite as ever, young master."

"I'm only polite to pretty ladies."

"No, no, young master. You're still too young to flirt with girls."

Hashirama shrugged. "I like making girls happy. And I can see that you like it."

Che pinched his cheek. "You're young but you talk like an old man."

Hashirama reached out and gave Che a smack on the lips. "I want to marry you."

Che blushed furiously. "I'm your cousin, you idiot! And I'm older! Don't ever do that again!"

Hashirama ran away, laughing.

Che put her hands on her hips. "That brother of yours. I hope he doesn't grow into a playboy. Right, Tobirama-sama?"

Tobirama was already asleep, leaning against the large earthen vase beside the doorway. The beetle crawled on the wooden floor, forgotten, the white thread trailing behind it.

"This guy, on the other hand, is so carefree. If you two were not cute, I wouldn't have been able to handle you." She sighed. She collected Tobirama from the floor and brought him to his room.

…

Hashirama ran up the stairs, bare-footed. The thuds of his footsteps were audible in the silence. He went up another flight of stairs and emerged in on his grandfather's floor.

"Grandpa!"

There were many people around, and they turned on him the moment he yelled.

He stopped. "Oops. Sorry."

"Oh! This is the rumored prodigy of the Senju!" a woman exclaimed. She approached Hashirama. "What a handsome boy! Look, look, isn't he gorgeous?"

The women crowded around him, making him uncomfortable. His smile was crooked, and he began to sweat.

"I-I'm sorry. I think I forgot something."

"What are you being shy about, Hashirama-sama?" The women leaned forward and their breasts jiggled in their robes.

Hashirama's eyes rolled down to the enticing view and gulped. "B-b-breasts."

"What?"

"Your breasts are huge!" His voice echoed in his head. His face burned.

Instead of getting embarrassed, the women smiled to each other.

"Girls, circle around," the woman who was the leader of the flock said. "Let's give the gorgeous Hashirama-chan a memory to remember. Ready?" The women put their hands at the hems on their chests. "Knock yourself out!" They pulled the fabric apart to show their cleavages.

Hashirama popped a vein. Blood gushed out his nose. His vision whirled and he fainted. When he opened his eyes, he felt his head on someone's lap. He looked up and he saw a red-haired girl of about his age. She was casually eating squid balls. Hashirama sat up. They were in another room.

"I'm sorry for using your lap as a pillow," he said.

"Don't worry about it. I wanted to confirm something anyway."

"Confirm what?"

"They say that you're a genius. I wanted to know if your head was heavier than a normal guy's. It seems there's no difference after all." She stood up and brushed her lap. "You make good takuyaki here. By the way, I'm Uzumaki Mito." She extended her hand.

Hashirama couldn't take his eyes away from the girl. He accepted her hand and squeezed it. "I'm Hashirama Senju. Pleased to meet you. Wow. I didn't know there was someone as pretty as you in this world."

She gaped. Clearly, the first time she had heard someone praise her like that.

"I want to marry you."

She pulled her hand from Hashirama's grip, nervous now. "A-are you an idiot?"

"I'm serious."

Mito began to panic. Her cheeks were a pretty pair of plums. "Well, I'm sorry. You're not my type." She started for the door.

Hashirama grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. He put his hand behind her waist. "Well, I'll change that misconception of yours." He leaned to kiss her.

"Wait! Wait! Stop!" Mito's eyes welled up.

Out of nowhere, a fist landed on Hashirama's head. It was Che's. "Your grandfather wants to see you now, young master. I'm apologizing in his behalf, Mito-sama." He pulled Hashirama by the scruff of his robe. "Come on, young master."

Hashirama winked at Mito as they went out of the doorway. She froze. Her heart raced in her chest.

…

"You were watching?"

"I'm not."

"You were."

"I'm not, okay. I'm not."

"Then why are you so angry?"

"Because you were about to kiss our guest. It could have ruined your reputation."

Hashirama stopped in front of her, smiling slyly. "You are jealous."

"I'm not."

"You were."

"It's no use talking to a stubborn brat like you."

"What if I say I fell in love with our guest?"

Che snorted. "What's that? Did you really believe that I would be affected?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. Because you look at me the same way as my mother looks at father."

Che opened her mouth, but all she could do was to stare into Hashirama's eyes.

"Right?"

"Come on. I don't want to be yelled at." She deliberately avoided holding his hand.

Hashirama grabbed her hand and there was a slight jump on her shoulder. "Che-san is pretty so she doesn't have to be worried. I'll still marry you if you like."

"We're here, Hashirama-sama."

Hashirama held both of her hands and looked up at her face.

"What?"

"I'm sorry if sometimes I give in to my urges." He smiled, and then went inside his grandpa's room.

Che blinked. His expressions, his wit, his hobbies, his confidence, and the way he read a person gave her doubts about his true age. He seemed to be a thirty-year old adult trapped inside a ten-year old child's body.

…

"Grandpa!" He jumped and gave his grandfather a hug and a loud kiss on the cheek.

His grandpa sat in the most powerful seat in the Senju village. "Always as energetic as ever! I'm sorry I couldn't face you a while ago, Hashirama."

He sat on his grandpa's lap. "Don't worry about it, grandpa. So, what did you want to talk with me about?"

"Isn't it your birthday today? I called for you to give you a present."

Hashirama's eyes sparkled. He gulped.

His grandpa smiled when he heard it. "Do you remember what you told me about your dream?"

"Yes, grandpa! I want to be the greatest ninja that has ever lived."

"No. You had another dream. You always told me about it. It was your dream for your future generation."

"Ah, that. That's impossible. It was a child's dream."

"Nothing is impossible, my child. Could I hear again that dream of yours?"

Hashirama looked outside of the window. "We'll, I've already understood that I would grow old and die someday. But even if it's an inevitable fact, I still dream of being able to see my future generation. I want to be able to teach them myself, brag about my battles, and tell them my ideals and aspirations. I dream of kids crowding around me and asking me to tell them stories about my life. I want to tell them that in my time everyone was so strong that no one would listen to the ideal of another because one had his own. I'll tell them that because of that I believed that whenever there were people, there would always be war. I want to hear from a kid's mouth that my belief has been wrong, that the time has changed, and people are already thinking more about peace. I want to hear that ninjas aspire to be strong not for the sake of fame, money, or reputation, but for the sake of their friends and family. I want a child to point out to me that we were wrong, that we were warfreaks, and that he will never consider honor more important than life. That's my dream, grandpa. I want to share to them my ideals and be rebuked on my beliefs, _personally._"

His grandpa laughed. "There are no skirt-chasing? No peeping? Nothing on girls?"

"You know me, grandpa. I'm weak against pretty girls, but there are things that are more important to me. That's a farfetched dream, anyway. Why did you want to hear it?"

"I have here with me something that could make that dream come true."

Hashirama looked at his grandpa, intently. "What do you mean?"

His grandpa groped for something behind his seat and brought out a purple prism the size of a brick. The sparkling dust in it danced in front of his eyes, like the constellation in a clear night. "The Sage of the Six Paths once possessed this precious crystal. It has the ability to store an infinite amount of chakra. Fill it up with a little of yours every night until the day of your death so that one day—"

His grandpa didn't have to explain. He knew. Chakra was existence. Existence contained the mind. If he filled the prism up with his chakra, filled it up with his will, then surely, someday, he would be able to meet his future people.

"Thank you, grandpa! Thank you very much!" He hugged the old man's scrawny neck and cried in so much joy.

That night, he began filling the prism with his chakra, imparting in it his wish that someday his knowledge would contribute to achieving eternal peace for humanity.

…

He saw his dream coming true that day. He grew up not missing a night where he forgot to fill up the prism with his chakra. Sometimes he would enter the crystal and saw another Hashirama smiling at him. He would talk like an idiot to the other Hashirama his patient supplying of chakra had created, and they would laugh at their silliness at the end of their conversation. He kept it a secret to everyone, even to his brother Tobirama. In missions, he carried it with him, and he snuck out in the middle of the night to fill it up in some place private. He never missed a day. Never even after he established Konoha and became the Shodai Hokage.

…

Hashirama grew up to be a reliable and charismatic leader. And one day, while taking a walk along a stream, a small luxury he had managed to squeeze into his hectic schedule, he found Tobirama meditating in a clearing. His eyes glinted, evilly. He hid behind a tree with a suspicious look on his face. He was suppressing a laugh, and it hurt his stomach. He looked at Tobirama, who was floating five inches above the ground.

He closed his tenketsus, a feat only he, among the ninjas in the five most powerful countries in the east, could do, and snuck unnoticed behind Tobirama.

"Secret Konoha Technique: Thousand Years of Pain!"

Tobirama's eyes opened wide as Hashirama's forefingers went in his anus. He screamed like a woman.

"You bastard!" Tobirama strangled Hashirama. "You, I'm gonna kill you, you idiot!"

"I-I'm just k-kidding!"

"Kidding?" Tobirama grinned, balefully. "I'm also kidding. I'll apologize with tears in my eyes once you're in the grave, you idiotic brother!"

"I…I can't breathe…" Hashirama tapped at his brother's arm. "Su…surrender…"

"Surrender? Too late, Hokage-sama!"

Bong!

Tobirama let go, reaching out to his head. Hashirama gasped for breath. He coughed.

Che was holding an aluminum basin in her hand. "Why did I arrive on you killing each other, huh?"

"He started it," Tobirama said.

"It was your fault for being defenseless. If I was the enemy—"

"Enemy my butt! You know yourself that you are the only one who can sneak behind my back!"

Hashirama smiled. He had missed this from his little brother. "All right, all right. I'm sorry." He messed Tobirama's hair.

Tobirama brushed it away. "Too late." He stood up and got the basin from Che. Che could only put her head in her hand and sigh. "Turn around."

Hashirama chuckled. He turned around. Tobirama hit him with the basin. The basin sustained a deep dent.

"Owww. That hurts," Hashirama said. He stood up, still rubbing the knot on top of his head. "Time's up?" he asked Che.

"Yes. You have some visitors from Uzushiogakure."

"Uzushiogakure?"

Che averted her eyes. "Princess Mito is one of them."

Hashirama was all business this time. "Okay. It must be serious. Let's go back. Tobirama, come with me."

…

There were seven delegates in total, including Mito. They stood up when Hashirama arrived. Hashirama went to his chair, while Tobirama and Che stood behind him.

"Have a seat," Hashirama said. "What brings you here, Mito-dono?"

"I'll go straight to the point," Mito said. "Countries are already preparing for war. I know that you've already noticed it."

Hashirama nodded.

"Many countries are asking us to be their ally. Since our villages have been on friendly terms to each other for a long time, I want to know your opinion about this."

Hashirama looked into Mito's eyes for a long time, reading her. Mito's cheeks reddened, but she didn't look away. "Your village doesn't know about your visit here, am I right?"

Mito hesitated. "Yes."

"And you're asking me personally because you don't want Uzushio to fight against Konoha."

Mito nodded.

"But the problem is your village's officials have already arrived at a decision."

Mito nodded.

"And it's in contrast to what you would have chosen."

"Yes."

"I can only see one solution to this. Are you prepared?" He didn't wait for a reply. "Tobirama, prepare me an entourage. I'll go to Uzushiogakure tomorrow."

_To be continued…_

Author: Thanks guys for keeping on with this story.


	20. Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20: Hashirama's Past (Part 2)

Dew still clung at the tip of leaves. The sun had not risen more than fifteen degrees, yet. But the whirlpools ran about in the bodies of water in Uzushiogakure as always. The people began their daily works. Children refused their mothers with whines. "Five more minutes, mom." "I don't feel well." Aromas of bacon, omelet, and fried rice filled with garlic seeped through small windows in kitchens.

A drowsy gate guard squinted through the fog and, seeing the twelve silhouettes in the distance, stood up and beat the alarm bell. Ninjas came running to the gate. The sunlight intruded through the haze and struck the familiar faces of Mito and Hashirama.

"It's…it's Mito-hime!"

"He's with Shodai Hokage!"

When they arrived at the gate, the Uzushio ninjas put their faces against the ground.

"Hey, what are they doing?" Hashirama asked.

"Don't look at them. Look ahead," Mito replied.

"My, this is flattering."

Mito led the group to the castle of her father.

…

A servant came running to the old man with the white beard. He was the Uzukage, sipping tea as he read from a scroll.

"Uzukage-sama, the princess is here."

The Uzukage looked at the servant. "Really?"

"She's with the Shodai Hokage, Master."

"What?" The Uzukage stood up. He noticed a figure in the doorway. "Mito," looking to the man beside her, "Senju-dono."

"You can leave us now," Mito told the escorts. She and Hashirama approached the Uzukage.

"Bring us breakfast," the Uzukage said from the corner of his mouth. The servant rushed out of the room. "This is quite surprising, Hokage-dono."

"I apologize for the trouble it caused you."

"No need to apologize. You're always welcome here."

Hashirama smiled. "I appreciate your hospitality."

"Would you excuse me and Mito for a few moments?"

"Certainly," Hashirama said.

The Uzukage and Mito went to the balcony.

"I went to him to seek guidance, Father. I can't ignore the decision of the council."

"I don't know why you had to involve the Hokage in this."

"Father, I'm not stupid. If you go along with what those chuckleheads want to do, Konoha will be our enemy. I don't want that to happen. The Senju is a distant relative of our clan. I can't stomach killing one of my kin."

The Uzukage stared into her eyes. The truth began to pummel him with guilt. "I know that. But Kaminari is strong. Kumogakure—"

"Konoha is stronger, Father."

"Yes, but…" He averted his eyes.

"It's money, correct?"

"I tried to persuade the council, Mito. I was outvoted. There is nothing that ties us strongly to Konoha."

Hashirama sipped from the cup of tea the servant had brought him.

"Father, let's listen to what the Hokage has to say. I know he has come up with something to change the decision of the council. Trust him. If you can't, then please do this for me."

The Uzukage glanced at Hashirama. He sighed. "Okay. I'll listen to him." He held her daughter's hand. They both went back to where Hashirama was. He sat across Hashirama. There were three servings of lamb chops, fried rice, and tea on the short table. "I'm sorry I couldn't serve you anything befitting to your presence, Hokage-dono."

"Don't worry about it." Hashirama sliced a piece from the lamb chop and put it into his mouth. "The food is already grand."

"My daughter told me that you had a solution to our current predicament."

Hashirama swallowed, sipping some tea to push the food. "According to Mito-hime, your council decided to form an alliance with Kaminari."

"Yes."

"I know that you'll never betray Konoha, so I think you tried your best to oppose the decision."

"Yes."

"But they reasoned that nothing tied Konoha and Uzushio: two fallible clans being relatives was not enough."

"Yes."

"I can only think of one solution: a political marriage." He put another mouthful into his mouth. "I'll marry Mito."

"Okay."

Silence.

The Uzukage sipped some tea. Mito watched the tea in her clay cup.

More silence.

The Uzukage spewed out the tea from his mouth. Mito dropped the clay cup and it broke on the floor.

"Marry Mito?" the Uzukage blurted out.

"Ehhh? But Hokage-sama!" Mito's cheeks were ridiculously red. A cherry would pale in comparison.

"Do you have something else in mind?" Hashirama's eyes were shining; his lecherous alter personality surfaced out. Mito was a rare catch. "How about it?"

Mito gulped. Instinctively, because of his smile, she covered her chest with her arms. "This is so sudden!"

Hashirama dropped the funny face. "I asked you yesterday if you were prepared. I thought you were."

"But, but, but…but this is marriage!"

"Think about it. This is a fool-proof solution."

The Uzukage and Mito considered the idea.

"Uzukage-sama, discuss my proposal with your council. I'll stay here for a couple more days." He stood up. "Could you give me the room you had given me the last time I was here? There were bonsai in there and the view was great."

"Sure, Hokage-dono. Mito, please take Hokage-dono to his room."

"What? But Father!"

"It's okay. I still remember my way around the castle."

…

Hashirama was lying on his side on the balcony, observing a bonsai in an oval pot.

"You seem engrossed with the beauty of that tree," an old voice said.

Hashirama glanced in the direction of the voice.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama. I'm Uzumaki Tsutomu." He extended a hand.

Hashirama sat up. He accepted Tsutomu's hand. "Pleased to meet you, Tsutomu-dono." Tsutomu was old. Because he was an Uzumaki, Hashirama guessed that the old man was in his nineties, already. He appeared like a seventy-year old man. "You have wonderful species of bonsai trees here. You can't blame me if I can't take my eyes off one."

Tsutomu sat down across Hashirama. "Glad to hear that from a renowned bonsai enthusiast like you," he said. "I heard that you're planning to marry my grandniece."

"That's true. So you're he's granduncle?"

"Yes. I dropped by my brother's room just a moment ago. They told me about it."

"What do you think of it?"

"It's practical. It's a good way to make our alliance permanent. But…"

"But...?"

"Are you sure you want to go on with this?"

"What do you mean? I wouldn't have proposed if I was not."

"I'm not talking about your decision. I'm talking about your heart."

Hashirama offered a sad smile.

"Do you still remember the first time Mito visited your village?"

"I don't forget things. Yes, I still remember."

"Since that time, she has become livelier. She told me that she had received a marriage proposal from the most famous kid in the world."

"I didn't expect that. I was still a kid. I was just playing around."

Tsutomu leaned near the tree and plucked a stray hair from the leaves. He blew it away. "Yes. I heard that you were already like an adult at your young age. She repeated to me the exact words you used to praise her. According to her, you said, 'I didn't know there was someone as pretty as you in this world.' I couldn't forget it. I was awed that a ten-year-old boy could deliver such profound flattery. Mito instantly fell in love with you, she said."

Hashirama cocked an eyebrow. "That's a surprise."

"She has never forgotten about you. I'm just not sure if her feelings for you are still the same."

Hashirama began to toy with a branch of the bonsai using his forefinger. The branch sprung back each time, bouncing repeatedly, like it was actually giggling. "Then things will be easier."

"How about on your end?"

Hashirama shrugged.

"I know that you have had a free life. You've seen a lot of people, met with a lot of girls. I'm sure that you've already fallen in love. I won't deny that this agreement is important to both of our villages, but I'll never agree to the marriage while you have a thread of uncertainty in your eyes. I love my grandniece. I don't want her to get hurt."

"I'll never hurt her."

"Then cut the thread and show me the eyes free of any commitment."

…

Che was one of his entourage, and that night she ate quietly alone in her room. She was wearing a simple white robe and her hair was still wet. A common balcony bridged every room. Hashirama used it to go to Che's.

Che demurely chewed her food, as she always did, a hand waiting for spilt rice below her chin. Hashirama pulled the sliding door open, his hair all over his face. He was muttering something gibberish. Che jerked her head in his direction. Her eyes bulged. She couldn't help from swallowing the food in her mouth. She choked. Hashirama, not knowing what was happening, raised his hands and walked like the dead, his gibberish getting louder.

"Water!" Che blurted out.

Hashirama raised his head and blanched. He pulled Che from the bed, braced his arms around her stomach, and squeezed. The piece of meatball shot out of her mouth to the floor. She coughed. Hashirama went in front of her and held her face.

"Are you okay?"

Che glared at him. "Okay? Did you think I'd say yes?"

Hashirama managed to swallow before Che's fist dug in his face.

…

He cleaned up the mess he had created. Che went to the bathroom to clean herself. She had lost her appetite and was still mad at Hashirama. When she came back, the short table was already gone. Instead there was a tray on her bed. Two saucers of pudding and a pitcher of tea were on the tray.

Hashirama was sipping tea in the balcony.

"You never change," Che said. "I could have died, you idiot."

Hashirama turned around and smiled at her. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you here?"

"I'm here to talk with you about something."

"Get to the point."

"Do you already know about my proposal?"

Che frowned. "Proposal? What proposal?"

"So no one has told you, yet."

"So what about this proposal?"

Hashirama hesitated for a moment. "I proposed to marry Mito."

Che stared at him as she absorbed the information.

"I need to make it impossible for them to establish alliance with another nation. This is the only way."

Che nodded, but her eyelashes caught some of the tears in her eyes. "O-okay," she whispered. "So what are you doing here?"

"I love you."

Che gaped. She turned around and freed the tears that she had been trying to suppress. "It's not funny, Hokage-sama."

Hashirama put down the cup on the table and went behind her. "You've remained loyal to me. You've always been nice to me. I've felt your love for me. Those were the reasons I fell in love with you, Che." He placed his hands on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off and made a step forward.

"I'm your cousin, Hokage-sama. What you're saying is gross."

"I don't care. I love you."

"Stop it."

"Che…"

"Just stop, okay."

"Don't you feel anything for me?"

"What is the right of a servant to fall in love with her master?"

"Don't depreciate yourself. You are a nice and honest girl. I'd be honored if you had feelings for me."

The wind rustled the leaves of trees outside. A stray leaf flew in and landed at Hashirama's feet.

"Get out."

"I'll get out willingly if you answer my question. Che, I love you."

"Enough! What can that love of yours do now? What do you intend to do? Elope with me?"

"I just want to tell you what I feel while I have the chance."

Che turned to him, but she hid her face. She began pushing him to the balcony. "Get out! I don't need those sentiments!"

Hashirama stood his ground. Che cried. She was now breathing out her mouth as the pain escalated in her chest. The strength left her arms. She began to quiver.

"You're so mean! Why do you have to hurt me like this? It would have been better if you just kept your mouth shut."

Hashirama embraced her. "I just want you to know that your love hasn't been unrequited. I've loved you for a long time and I want you to know that before I marry."

Che cried on his chest.

"Do you feel the same for me?"

Che embraced him. "Yes. I love you. But because of this, I hate you, now."

"Thank you. That gives me courage."

Che playfully punched his side. "I hate you."

"Do you want to be my concubine?"

"Are you crazy?"

"Listen, Che. I want to entrust something to you, something very important to me. This will serve as the memory of my sincere love for you. I have to give my heart to someone else, but I'll give you my soul. I want you and your future generation to be the keeper of my will." And he told her about the prism.

The first chapter of his life ended that night. He decided not to put any chakra in the prism anymore, a sign that he was leaving everything behind, entrusting it to the first woman that had made his heart beat.

He held her chin and kissed her.

…

"I learned that night that most of the things you do for the good of the majority were things that brought pain to you. I—" He saw something that made his brow twitch. "Could you wipe your face?"

Naruto's eyes were swimming in tears. Snot flowed out his nose. "I'm so moved. That's a beautiful love story." He used his sleeve to wipe his face.

"Don't you have anything to wipe your face with?"

"It's more convenient. So what happened to Che-san?"

"After my marriage, she left Konoha. She married a nobleman. I was there at her funeral—in disguise, of course. She had eleven beautiful children and thirty nine grandchildren when she died. She died old and I could see in her face that she had lived a happy life."

"And the prism?"

Hashirama smiled.

…

It was as Hashirama had told Naruto. He and Mito got married a week after his proposal. The council, who were actually being coerced by Kumogakure, could finally sigh in relief. Mito decided to live in Konoha with Hashirama. Mito gave birth to their first child a year later.

Hashirama's grandfather died before the war. Tsutomu Uzumaki filled that gap. They became bestfriends. Tsutomu regarded Hashirama as his own grandchild and taught him things whenever they had the time to talk. He became Hashirama's firstborn's nanny. He always walked around the town with the disgustingly fat baby strapped on his chest, and he became famous for it. He was content with his life in Konoha.

Hashirama's only problem was Madara. One time he had to use the Demon Fox just to defeat him. In a fight to death, he believed he had killed him. That was at the Valley of the End. Because of the incident, Mito became the first Jinchuriki of the Demon Fox. They had no choice for the Demon Fox was dangerous if not harnessed. Mito was the only person capable of containing the fox. She accepted it whole-heartedly, not only for the villagers, but also because she loved Hashirama so much.

Everything returned to normal.

Until the First Ninja War broke out.

…

Tsutomu woke up one day with a restless mind. He felt something bad. He smelled death in the air. When he couldn't contain it anymore, he ran to Hashirama's room. Only Mito was there.

"Where is Hokage-sama? Has he left already?"

"Yes. What's the problem?"

"Mito, I feel something bad about this mission. Can't you feel it? You're a woman."

Mito's shoulders sagged. "I've been feeling it, too. But he assured me that he would come back victorious. Besides, Tobirama-sama and Toka-sama are with him. He will be safe. I trust him and his team."

"I hope that they come back safe. Look, if someone looks for me, tell them that I'm not available. I'll go down the shrine to pray for their safety. That's the only thing that I can do for them."

…

Tsutomu prayed everyday at the shrine. The moment he woke up, he would go straight there. He refrained from eating to show his sincerity to the gods and spirits. However, what he had been doing was proven useless on the eight day. That afternoon heavy rain battered the roofs of houses and kept the villagers from going outside. The sky was dark and the puddles on the ground would have reflected its sad hue if not for the raindrops that barraged their surfaces. A thin fog had formed few inches above the ground. Mist was covering most of the trees.

Amidst the relentless rain, Tobirama, Toka, and two others carried a stretcher with a body in it covered in white blanket. They stared in the distance, walking slowly, foreheads up and proud. The two-centimeter of water washed their feet as they trudged on towards the Senju Mansion. No one knew that they had arrived. No doors and windows were open that day. Only the rain provided the tears. Only the wind offered the wail for the departed.

The smoke of the incense in front of Tsutomu changed direction as if blown upon. But there was no wind. His eyes widened in realization and dread. "No," he croaked. "No, it can't be." He stood up and ran into the rain towards the Senju Mansion.

When he arrived, he was drenched. He barged in, hair, skin, and clothes dripping water on the floor. In the large hall, Mito cried on the chest of a body covered in white blanket. Tobirama, Toka, and the others who had gone to the mission stood nearby, all wounded and emaciated, eyes dull and lifeless, as if their souls had left them empty. Tsutomu knew he was too late. He fell on his knees and looked at his reflection on the glossy floor. His eyes died and saw nothing but darkness.

…

Tsutomu never left Hashirama's side. He slept in the same room where his grandnephew-in-law lay. He ate beside him, brought in a bonsai for him, and talked to him if no one was around. At the end of his monologue he cried and blamed himself for not being there for Hashirama when he had needed him the most. The thought kept him awake at night.

On the third day of the wake, he was surprised when suddenly he felt Hashirama's presence. He got up and looked around. He saw a girl praying beside Hashirama. It was Che. Tsutomu stood up and sat across Che. He waited until she finished.

When Che opened her eyes, she jumped at Tsutomu's sight. She opened her mouth.

"No need to scream. I'm Hokage-sama's granduncle-in-law. My name is Tsutomu."

Che sighed. "You startled me, Tsutomu-sama."

"I'm sorry. Who are you? You look familiar."

"I'm Che. I was one of Hashirama-sama's entourage when he proposed to marry Mito-sama."

"Oh, so you were the woman in his heart before Mito."

"H-how did you know that? He promised not to tell anyone."

Tsutomu smiled. "He didn't tell me. That was a trap. Anyway, he has already passed away. No need for you to get embarrassed now."

Che smiled longingly. "You're right. I was his first love. He confessed to me before he married Mito-sama."

"I see. He really knew how to pick his girls."

Che blushed.

"Anyway, I was surprised a moment ago when I suddenly felt Hashirama-sama's chakra in this room. You are the only one here so I came over to ask you. I'm a medical ninja and a master sensor. I can sense even a drop of chakra two kilometers from me. What I felt was a large amount of Hashirama-sama's chakra. Do you happen to have something that contains it?"

Che stared into him.

"So?"

"I have it with me. He gave this to me the night he confessed his love. I brought it here because I'd decided that I didn't deserve this. Mito-sama should have this instead of me."

"Could I see it?"

Che opened the pouch beside her and produced the purple prism. She handed it to Tsutomu. Tsutomu examined the crystal.

"I can feel him in here," he said.

"He told me that he had been filling it up with his chakra since he was ten."

"Could I have the pouch? I'll give this to Mito myself. I'm sure she'll be happy."

"Really? Sure." Che handed the pouch over. "To tell you the truth, I don't really want to meet Mito-sama. My plan was to just leave the prism here with a note. I'm glad you volunteered, Tsutomu-sama."

"It's okay."

She stood up. "I should be going, now. The boat will depart noon today."

"Won't you stay for the burial?"

Che shook her head. "I can't. I mean, I won't be able to stand it, watching him being lowered down the ground. This is the best that I can do."

"I understand. Then allow me to escort you out. I'll have you sent to the port."

"That's very generous of you."

"Anything for my grandnephew's first love."

…

Tsutomu rushed up the stairway towards Mito's room. He was out of breath when he reached it. "Mito, I have to talk with you."

The door slid open, and Mito greeted him with swollen eyes and pale lips. "What is it, grandpa? And why are you huffing?"

Tsutomu entered in. "Look at this." He showed her the prism. "Do you know what this is?"

Mito frowned. "What is that?"

"Can't you feel it? The chakra in it?"

"I'm not a sensor and I'm not in the mood, grandpa."

"This prism contains Hashirama-sama's chakra."

Mito considered the prism. "Really? Then can I talk with him?"

"No. I'm planning something better. You see, with this amount, I can replenish Hokage-sama's chakra circulatory system. I can revive him."

"Are you crazy? Grandpa, you can't do that!"

"I can and I will. I'm confident, Mito. Trust me. His cells are still intact because of Tobirama-sama's Chakra Encasing Technique. All we need to do is to refill Hokage-sama's chakra circulatory system to make his organs function again."

"Hashirama is already dead, grandpa! I know what you're thinking. You're going to use a forbidden technique. I know about them and techniques that are related to the revival of life require life as payment. I would have already done that if I didn't know Hashirama. Grandpa, I don't want him to hate us."

"We don't need to do a forbidden technique because we have this. This prism is the key. Mito, trust me. Please. I'm one of the best medical ninjas in the world. I've mastered the science of chakra. I know that by using Hokage-sama's chakra inside this prism, I can bring him back to life."

Mito regarded Tsutomu for a long time. "All right. How can I help?"

Tsutomu brightened up. "Help me talk to Tobirama-sama."

_To be continued…_


	21. Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21: Hashirama's Past (Part 3)

After talking with Tobirama for almost twenty minutes, Mito went out of his room. Tsutomu hoped for good news.

"So, what did he say?"

Mito shook her head. "He doesn't want you to go on with your plan. He said that it was impossible without resorting to forbidden techniques. He wouldn't permit it."

"No! Did you tell him that I would not use any forbidden technique?"

"Yes."

"Why couldn't he understand? I'll talk to him."

Mito held his arm. "No, grandpa. He's still agitated. Please, give him time."

"Time? Tobirama-sama's encasing technique is not eternal. Soon, Hashirama-sama's body will start to rot. I need to talk to him while it is still feasible for the operation to succeed." Tsutomu pulled his arm away and marched up to Tobirama's room.

…

Tobirama's servants tried to stop Tsutomu. Tobirama noticed the commotion. "Let him in," he said.

Tsutomu approached the throne. "Hokage-sama, please listen to me. I have a prism that contains Hashirama-sama's chakras."

"Ane-ue has already told that to me. Please, Ani-ue is already at peace. Why are you trying to disturb his sleep?"

"Hokage-sama, I may succeed and bring your brother back to life. Why don't you give me a chance?"

Tobirama sagged on his seat. He massaged his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "Does my voice still fail to reach my people?"

Tsutomu flinched. "I apologize for this defiance, Hokage-sama."

Tobirama sighed. "How will you do it?"

Tsutomu told him the procedures of the operation.

"What is the probability that this operation will succeed?"

"About eighty-three to ninety-five percent, Hokage-sama."

"You're that confident?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"All right. As long as you promise to treat Ani-ue's body with respect, I permit."

"I promise, Hokage-sama."

"If you fail, you are never to set foot on Konoha ever again."

…

Tsutomu failed in his first attempt.

…

Tsutomu with two Hyuuga ninjas and two medical ninjas from Uzushio performed the operation on Hashirama. Tsutomu with the help of the Hyuuga ninjas connected the prism to Hashirama's chakra circulatory system using chakra conducting threads made from the chakra channels of a dead person. Afterwards, he stitched the prism inside Hashirama's body. The first stage was a success. Tsutomu then performed a high-ranked technique that he invented: The Second Awakening of the Soul Technique. He waited and waited, but nothing happened. Hashirama was not waking up. He looked at his colleagues. All that they could do was to tell him that they had already done their best. It was time for Hashirama to go. Tsutomu cried over his failure.

The next day, Tsutomu was banished from Konoha despite of Mito's pleading at Tobirama's feet.

Tobirama said, "It is my fault that my anger had brought words in my mouth, and I'm greatly sorry for that. But you should understand, Ane-ue. I'm Hokage and taking back my words is an act of disrespect to the title my Ani-ue entrusted me." He collected Mito in his arms and whispered in her ear, "I'm very sorry."

On the day of Hashirama's burial, Tsutomu could only watch and say his goodbyes from a distance.

Tsutomu never left Konoha as the majority of the villagers believed. He had a small shelter in the Hades Forest. And because no one dared to come down there, he was safe. In there, he reviewed the procedure of the operation he had performed on Hashirama. He arrived on the conclusion that he had not done any mistakes. Everything had been perfect. But still, Hashirama hadn't woken up. He needed to know the truth. He had to.

He planned his next step thoroughly.

After three months, he got information that a missing-nin was about to be hanged in Sunagakure. The missing-nin was a Senju and was capable of using Wood Release Techniques like Hashirama. He had killed seventy-seven people in Sunagakure, so Tobirama renounced him from the Senju clan and told Sunagakure that they could do anything they deemed appropriate for the missing-nin's crimes. Later, Tobirama would tell the historians of Konoha to eliminate any information concerning the man. He would also send a diplomat to request the government of Sunagakure to erase any information that would implicate that the criminal had been a Senju, specifically his ability to use Wood Release Techniques. Tobirama paid Sunagakure a large sum of money. Sunagakure couldn't refuse his request.

Tsutomu saw his chance. He went to Sunagakure disguised as the missing-nin's relative. He told the official that was handling the case that he wished to take the missing-nin back after the execution. The official sent a letter to the Kazekage. It came back signed, allowing Tsutomu to have the corpse.

He hired five rogue ninjas to help him with what he was to do. A night when a strong typhoon was beating Konoha with wind and heavy rain, Tsutomu exhumed Hashirama's body, put the missing-nin's body inside his coffin, and returned the grave as it should be. He was surprised that Hashirama's corpse hadn't begun decaying, yet. He knew it! He knew that he hadn't made a mistake. That somehow his operation on Hashirama was a success. All he needed to do was to learn why Hashirama was not waking up.

It was a tedious work. Everyday Tsutomu would work on Hashirama's body for twenty hours, only taking breaks on meals and nature calls. He took notes, made diagrams, and researched in other countries. After eight months, he learned that the prism he had installed inside Hashirama was exuding only a small amount of chakra. The rate of flow was too low that Hashirama's brain didn't function at all. His heart was not beating. His lungs were not taking in air. The chakra just kept the cells alive. Hashirama was like inside ice; he was in the state of preservation.

Tsutomu also learned that Hashirama's chakra gates were only permitting a small amount of chakra to pass through. If Hashirama remained unconscious, it would stay that way. The chakra would eventually exhaust itself. Hashirama would begin to decompose.

Tsutomu studied this condition, thoroughly, and learned after two months that the prism had originally held only seventy-five percent of Hashirama's total chakra size, and now only fifty-three percent remained. He had to act fast and decisively. He cut off Hashirama's left hand.

Tsutomu concentrated in knowing his chakra's compatibility with Hashirama's chakra channels using Hashirama's hand as the test subject. He found out that his chakra was compatible enough. He conducted a number of follow-up tests and they were all successful. Using his unorthodox medical jutsus, he restored the hand to its proper place.

…

Hashirama showed his ragged scar around his left wrist to Naruto.

Naruto gaped. "Wow."

Hashirama laughed.

…

Tsutomu formulated a new technique, something wherein he could transfer his chakra safely into Hashirama. He finished a tentative technique in a week. He tried it on dead animals first. He failed. The animals had burst into smithereens. He didn't give up until he was already working twenty-four hours a day without noticing it. Bit by bit, he understood what he needed to do and, after a month, he successfully revived a dead fish. He had made two sets of chakra. One was a mass of a calm quality. It had a finer texture and smoother shape. Its color was green. The other one was his ordinary chakra. He enclosed his ordinary chakra with the calm chakra and held it in globes around his hands. He then carefully intruded the tenketsu of his target with the chakras. He injected the chakra system of his target until the mass in his hands were consumed. For the fish, he only needed a single batch. He did it to bigger animals until he successfully revived a horse with the technique. He had to inject five batches into it. After that he decided to perform the technique on Hashirama.

His first attempt was a success, but because of excitement, he injected too much into him. Hashirama's nose bled. There was internal hemorrhage. Tsutomu immediately stopped. Following that incident, Tsutomu made a well-studied program for the administering of his chakra into Hashirama. He had to be patient and very careful.

Two excruciatingly unbearable months passed. He was performing the technique on Hashirama when suddenly Hashirama gasped. Tsutomu's heart beat fast in his chest. He struggled to maintain his concentration. Hashirama's face began to have color. As the globes in his hand decreased in size, his tears flowed like two falls from his eyes. When he finished, he went to check on Hashirama. Hashirama was breathing and his heart was beating strongly in his chest. He couldn't contain his joy. He went out of his shelter, smiling, clapping his hands over his head, tears flowing out his eyes. He yelled to the darkness of the forest.

But something unfortunate happened to him. He didn't notice it at first until one day, he coughed up blood. He was already old. He was already in his nineties. His revival technique consumed a lot of chakra. And he was administering his chakra one batch every two hours. He didn't have much time to recuperate. He would have died months earlier if he was not an Uzumaki. The stress of what he did crushed his health. And for the first time in his life, he felt really old.

His health deteriorated as the day passed, but Hashirama was still not waking up. He began to feel desperate. One day as he did his routine on Hashirama, he lost consciousness. He woke up on Hashirama's chest. He looked at Hashirama's face. Was there nothing he could do anymore? He considered his situation and arrived at a conclusion.

"You will not die. Not until I can still do something," he whispered.

He took a week's rest to prepare himself with his next step. He needed at least eighty percent of his total chakra to perform his last attempt for Hashirama's revival. He waited sleeplessly until the appointed day.

Tsutomu wore his most elegant yukata that day. He went in front of the Konoha falls and prayed there for two hours. When he came back, he was prepared. This was his last chance and he would make sure that it worked. He would perform the technique which had been invented by the Priestess of the Sun: the legendary Genesis.

He made a large circle on the wide floor of his library. He made another circle inside and another smaller at the very center where four people could sit. There were large characters to the north, the east, the south, and the west of the largest circle, two similar characters to each of the directions. Each character was written one on top of the other. The character on top was written in black. The north had the character for Open Gate, the east had the Energy Gate, the south had the Life Gate, and the east had the Wound Gate. Another set of characters were written around the second circle. They had the same arrangement and representation as in the first circle. To the northeast was the Forest Gate, to the southeast was the View Gate, to the southwest was the Insanity Gate, and to the northwest was the Death Gate. The center had the symbol for the Yin and Yang. Around the free space between the largest and the second largest circle were scribbling of incantations. The scribbling also appeared in the space between the smallest circle and the second largest.

Once finished, he wheeled Hashirama to the room. He put his hand over Hashirama's heart for a very long time. After that, he carried him and made him sit on the Yin space. He, on the other hand, sat on the Yang space. Hashirama's head hung on his neck. Tsutomu entwined his fingers with Hashirama's so that their palms touched perfectly.

"I'll never forget you, Hashirama-sama," he said. He began the process.

First, he opened six of his chakra gates. He left his Insanity and Death gates closed. There was a tremble as the impact of erupting chakra shook the building. Birds outside flew away from the place. The white characters for his six chakra gates glowed on the floor. Second, he opened six of Hashirama's chakra gates using his chakra. He left Hashirama's Life and Death gates closed. Third, he snapped close five of his open chakra gates—he left his Pain Gate open—and at the same time opened his Insanity Gate. Hashirama's chakra rushed into his system. The pain was overwhelming, but he didn't give in. After he collected Hashirama's chakra, he closed his Insanity and Pain gates and opened his Death Gate. With this gate, he could do everything. It was the ultimate weapon anyone—a ninja, a swordsman, a medical personnel, anyone—could use. Using the chakra that he had collected and his own, he willed Hashirama's open gates to close. He took control of Hashirama's chakra circulatory system. He opened Hashirama's Life gate. The black character for Life Gate glowed on the floor. He saw it and smiled. He uttered a croak before every liquid in his body evaporated. He shriveled like grapes being dried under the sun and fell down with a thud.

"Genesis complete," he said, and died.

…

Hashirama was kneeling inside a white space when Tsutomu appeared before him.

"Grandpa," Hashirama said.

Tsutomu just smiled. "I'm happy to see you again, Hashirama-sama."

"What are you doing here?"

"It's not important. I've recorded everything. You'll find my records easily when you wake up. I don't have enough time."

Hashirama stood up. "You don't have enough time? What are you saying?"

Tsutomu approached Hashirama and threw his scrawny arms around him. "I love you. I will never forget you. Please, think of me every now and then."

"Grandpa, what is going on?"

Tsutomu began to fade. "Promise me."

"Grandpa, wait! Wait! Tell me what's happening!"

Tsutomu just gave him a sad smile and disappeared.

…

Hashirama woke up after two days and found Tsutomu on the floor. He immediately understood what had happened. Because it was his original body, his original brain, he could remember everything before he died. He knew he should already be dead. But Tsutomu had revived him. He knew the Genesis Circle. He knew its purpose. And the dead body of his second grandfather was proof enough that Tsutomu had performed the technique that gave life but took life in return. One of the most forbidden of the forbidden techniques ever created. But he didn't know what to feel. He didn't feel grateful. He hadn't had regrets when he died. Now, what would he do?

He took Tsutomu's body and buried him behind the shelter. Whether he was grateful or not with his revival, he still thanked the old man for caring for him, unconditionally, for many years. He went back to the shelter and entered the laboratory. Stacked neatly on the table were the notes Tsutomu had left behind. Sticks drawn with red chalk made a fence of fives on the wall. When he counted them, they summed up to four hundred twenty-two. He was not sure what they meant until he read the topmost piece of paper on the stack. Tsutomu had written in the first line, "This is the four hundredth and twenty-second day after I exhumed my grandson from his grave. I'm gonna revive him…" Hashirama's legs buckled. A year and two months had already passed after he died in the war. He kept his eyes close for two minutes.

He read the notes. Once he read anything that contained his name or anything that implied that he was still alive, he burned it. In the end, nothing remained. He had memorized the process of the revival technique, the one Tsutomu had mastered by using it on animals, believing its significance to medical science. He rewrote it in a scroll, which he left behind in the shelter. He indicated that Tsutomu Uzumaki was the one who had created the technique. A team from Sunagakure in pursuit of a criminal would soon discover it two months later. The technique would pave the way for modern medical techniques that saved the lives of thousands. It was the technique that Chiyo would later use to revive Gaara.

Hashirama decided that it was a bad decision if he showed himself out of nowhere. He thought that he would die anyway, so he would just live in peace. When he surfaced to the civilization, the war was still going on. He helped his villagers from the shadows, often meddling when Konoha ninjas were about to be beaten. This became the urban legend called "Leaf Miracles." It was one of the reasons why other villages began to fear Konoha. When Tobirama died in the war, he was deeply saddened. He had believed in Tobirama and stayed in Konoha when the latter with two of his teams that included Danzo Shimura and Hiruzen Sarutobi left for a mission. He never expected that Tobirama would die by sacrificing himself so that he could save his students. That day he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of guilt for living despite of the fact that he should already be dead. He thought that his rightful place was not in the world of the living. He could have committed seppuku that day if he didn't treasure Tsutomu's sacrifice.

Hashirama decided not to meddle in anymore. He thought that it would be disrespectful to interrupt with the will of the current generation if he, who should have been rightfully dead, did things that could bring ripples even in a subtle way. But it was not the sole reason. He also believed that his past interventions made history mad, and she had killed his brother as a message to him. So, he just contended himself with watching Konoha from the shadows.

His life went on.

…

"Then how did you arrive here in Sanmyaku?"

"A few years later, when I was chasing some bandits, I accidentally found a worm hole," Hashirama said.

"A worm hole?"

"It's a distortion in the space-time plane that connects long distances by bridging another dimension. The worm hole I found in Konoha brought me here in Sanmyaku. I discovered a small village in Ichiba where ancient ninja clans resided. I found there some of the ancient Senju, ancient Uchiha, ancient Hyuuga and other clans who had migrated there to escape the foolish wars, as they called them. I learned later that their ancestors had lived in that small village since before I was born. I asked if it was a hidden village I found and they replied me that it was not and they had been living as ordinary people. I fell in love with the peace and the way of life in the village and decided to spend my life in there."

"But didn't the people find it odd that you were not aging?"

"Wow. You became quite sharp."

"Yeah. Why don't you age, anyway?"

"I'm not sure myself but I guess it's because of Genesis and the Uzumaki chakra Tsutomu-sama transferred into me. But I age, only very slowly. Based on my appearance, how old do you think I am now?"

"In your mid-forties, I guess."

"See? When I died, I was thirty-four."

"How old are you now?"

"I'm ninety-two this year. Now, let's go back to your question. After five peaceful years, the village was attacked by revolutionaries from Nue. I and some of the villagers who could fight tried to protect the village. I was surprised with how skillful some of the villager's fought. Later, they would tell me that they trained secretly in the mountains to keep their bloodline limit capabilities sharp. But in the battle, we were greatly outnumbered. The ratio was one to eighty. Many of the villagers died in the battle. We were forced to leave the island. After that incident, I suggested that we established a ninja village so that we could avoid such a defeat in the future. They agreed to my suggestion. Thus, Morigakure was established. I'm the first and current Arashikage of Morigakure. I created a ninja academy like what Tobirama had created in Konoha, and systematically developed a competent army of ninjas. We began accepting missions, and after thirty years, Morigakure gained a good reputation in Sanmyaku."

"Where is my question in that?"

"No one asked me about it."

"Eh?"

"Instead, I was the one who asked them if they found it weird that I aged slowly. One villager told me that there were some that had my condition living in the village. They were not really surprised, he said. He was telling the truth for I met with a man who was already three hundred and forty years old. He looked like a human shark, a Hoshikagi. He died six years ago."

"How about your clients?"

"I usually wear a mask when I go to a mission. My villagers know the importance of keeping my condition a secret, because it could be dangerous if the clients knew. I also use aliases and change them every twenty years to build an illusion that the person having the current alias is the student of the person with the previous alias."

"You haven't been wearing a mask ever since we met."

"Because I've decided to be Hashirama Senju this time, the one who will deal with Uchiha Madara."

Naruto was surprised. "You know that Madara is still alive?"

"Yes. Sixteen years ago, before the Demon Fox's attack on Konoha—"

"You also know about the attack of the Demon Fox on Konoha?"

"Yes. As I was saying, before the Demon Fox's attack, I felt a familiar itch behind my eyes. It always bothers me if Madara is active. I was surprised, of course, because I believed that I had already killed Madara. But I didn't ignore it. I felt that Konoha was in danger. I heeded my premonition and left immediately for Konoha."

"Sixteen years ago? Sanmyaku was already a closed country by then."

"I crossed the mountain range and travelled for four months."

"Wow."

"Konoha was normal when I arrived. I didn't feel the itch behind my eyes, anymore. Maybe a false alarm, I thought."

"So what did you do?"

"I stayed for a while to make sure, but I couldn't go near. ANBUs were scattered in the forest and around the village. The number was especially large around a cave far away from the village. If I went near, I knew that the ANBUs would not hesitate to kill me. I could see it in their wariness of the surrounding. I investigated a little, but no one knew why. I decided to stay close until I was sure that nothing would go wrong. I went back to Tsutomu-sama's shelter in the Hades Forest. Then, after two months, that fateful night happened. Out of nowhere, I felt the itch behind my eyes again. It was so strong that I couldn't stop my tears from flowing. I rushed for Konoha, but while I was running, the itch suddenly disappeared."

…

_What's happening?_ Hashirama put one hand over an ear. _Is my mind pulling a prank on me?_ Then the itch came back. His eyes widened when the Demon Fox suddenly appeared in the distance. _The Demon Fox! What's going on?_ He sprinted towards Konoha. The fox was destroying everything it saw. The ninjas were getting slaughtered by the hundreds. His hands began to shake. He badly wanted to help, but he was afraid. What if something more terrible than the Demon Fox befall Konoha if he meddled in? The image of his dead brother recurred repeatedly in his mind as the Demon Fox danced the Dance of Death against his people. Lines of stress began to show under his eyes. His lower lip trembled in indecision. _Someone…please…_But when he saw the fox going for a mother and her child, he couldn't stand still anymore. He froze the fox's movement for a split second. A ninja carried the two to safety. He stayed as far as he could, observing his brave people fight against the gigantic demon. The fox opened its mouth to launch a black chakra ball. He extended his right hand and hammered it onto his left palm. The fox's jaws shut close. The Third Hokage with the most elite ninjas in Konoha managed to push the fox out of the village.

"Stand your ground! We've pushed it out of the village!" the Third Hokage said.

_Keep it up. Keep it up, Hiruzen._

The fox attempted to form a chakra ball again. It was fast this time. The ball inflated in its mouth in a matter of seconds. It aimed the ball at the village.

Hashirama formed twelve consecutive hand seals. "Time-Space Distortion: Time Continuum Delay!" He coughed up blood because of the high chakra requirement of the technique. The fox froze. "Dimensional Transfer!" The black ball in its mouth disappeared like magic. "RUN, NOW!"

The Third's eyes widened. The voice was familiar. He began to turn his head when Gamabunta suddenly dropped over the fox.

"It's Yondaime!" said a voice.

_Shit! What are you waiting for? Escape, you idiots!_

The fox recovered and turned around. A black ball grew out from its mouth again. It turned around and aimed the ball at the Third.

_No, you don't!_ Hashirama began forming the same seals as earlier. However, before he could finish, the fox disappeared.

…

"I traced where the chakra of the fox had gone. I felt it appear in the direction of the cave. I ran as fast as I could, but I was too late when I got there. Your mom was talking to you when I arrived. The fox had already impaled them with its claw. I was there when both of them breathed their last. It had been ten years when I last saw them. I hadn't expected that the day I saw them again would be the day of their death. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to save them."

Naruto looked at the ground.

"The sad thing about it was Madara had managed to escape. I tried to hunt him down but he literally disappeared. All I could do was to promise myself that I would not stop until I killed Madara. He is also an anomaly of this world. Like me, he should already be dead. It occurred to me that maybe the reason heaven had permitted me to be revived was to accomplish that single mission. And I'll do it. You will be my most potent weapon."

"Did you watch me as I grew up?"

"No. Since the attack of the Demon Fox, I stayed here in Sanmyaku."

"But Madara is not in Sanmyaku! How will you kill him if you don't face him?"

"I will not be able to kill Madara right now because Madara is not alone. I know why he tried to take control over the Demon Fox. He is greedy and has a distorted belief of attaining eternal piece. I know that he would have not surfaced if he was not prepared. To kill a stubborn grass, it's not enough to uproot it from the soil. You should burn the soil it grows up from with unquenchable fire. I've been preparing for it ever since his reappearance sixteen years ago."

Naruto thought awhile.

"If you don't have questions anymore —"

"Was it only coincidence that you found me?"

"Yes. I didn't expect the third Jinchuriki of the Demon Fox to be washed up here, of all places."

"You mean you didn't have the slightest idea that I was the fox's Jinchuriki?"

"No. First, you were just a baby when I last saw you, so I wouldn't know what you looked like. Second, I had sensed your peculiar chakra when Yuudai took me to you, but I was not sure if you were a Jinchuriki or not. I couldn't feel the evil of the Demon Fox. Your fight against Zuko was not only to test you capabilities, but also to confirm if you had a Biju in you. Unfortunately, you didn't use it in the fight. However, you were crazy enough to cut your arm and that made everything simple."

"I see. So it was just a chance meeting then."

"Aren't you happy? If you had stayed in Konoha, you would have remained weak for a very long time."

"I don't really dwell on 'ifs.' But I'm grateful to have this chance to be stronger. But, Hashirama-jii-chan—"

"Call me Hashirama-sensei to be safer."

"All right. Hashirama-sensei, now that Madara is planning to unleash the Fourth Ninja War, what are you going to do?"

"I'll tell you when the right time comes." Hashirama stood up. "Now you know the basic things you must know about me. Let's not linger anymore. Let's start your training." He spread his arms. Four balls of lights came out of his body. The balls hovered in air for a few moments. Then, slowly, they began to get bigger and form into human shapes.

Naruto's eyes widened. Now, standing before him, to the right and left of Hashirama, were the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, and his beautiful mother Kushina Uzumaki.

"As the representative of Konoha, we won't do a half-ass job on you," Hashirama said, grinning threateningly.

"Ehhh?"

_To be continued…_


	22. Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22: The White of Yin and the Black of Yang

"Mom? Dad? Jii-chan?" Naruto said.

"Naruto?" Kushina asked. "I thought…I thought…" But emotions overwhelmed her. She ran over to her son and embraced him. "Naruto! I don't know what is going on, but I'm happy to see you again."

"Mom?" Naruto was still confused.

Kushina imprisoned Naruto's face inside her hands and kissed his nose and forehead. "I awfully missed you, Naruto!"

"What's going on?" Minato said. "What are we doing here?"

"Oh, drop that attitude, Minato!" Kushina commanded, irritably. "Your son is in front of you and that's the first thing that comes to your mind? Get over her and give Naruto a hug!"

"Y-yes, yes! I'm sorry!" Minato approached and messed Naruto's hair. "How are you, son?" He grinned at Naruto's black hair, obviously hurt. "I didn't know that you hated me that much that you would even dye your hair."

"Ah, this…I have an explanation to this, Dad," Naruto said. "You see, so many things have happened."

"Ani-ue? What's going on?" Tobirama asked Hashirama. "Is this your doing?"

"Calm down, people—" He cringed when he saw Hiruzen prostrating himself in front of him.

"I'm sorry to have done that to you, Sensei," he said. "I had no choice."

Hashirama's brow twitched like a bug's leg. "Will you cut it out!" he bellowed. Everyone blinked at him. "Okay. Now that I have you attention, listen. While you were still alive, I extracted some of your chakras into pieces of crystals from the prism inside my body. Before Kushina and Minato died, I extracted an ample amount from them, too. I originally planned to keep it with me so that you could share some of your knowledge to the future generations of Konoha. However, this kid here came, and I thought that it was better if you taught him the things you knew rather than keep it aside for an unclear future threatened by an impending war." He saw how Naruto gaped at him. "Close that mouth." Naruto clamped his mouth shut. "Other properties of chakra for you so you stop asking questions. First, why Kushina remembers her conversation with you, and Hiruzen his actions against me in the past. However much quantity a chakra has or however far you take it away from the original existence, it still belongs to the same existence, thus it has every memory its original existence has. What that separated mass of chakra experiences, the original remembers and vice versa. It's the same in Kage Bunshins where you can remember what your clone experiences. Second, I got the chakras of Tobirama and Hiruzen long before they died, but why they can still remember the memories of our fight when Orochimaru resurrected our souls. Again, as long as the separate mass of chakra exists, it's still a part of the original and it gains what the original experiences."

Naruto said, "Then they can—"

Hashirama raised a hand. "They will only remember the white space."

"White space?"

"Tobirama, can you remember sitting inside a white space without any motivation to move?"

Tobirama considered this. "Yes. I remember that experience."

"See that, Naruto? Inside the crystal, what you will experience is nothing more than sitting inside an eternal white space. Now, let's go back to the main subject. The third one, why they appear as what they appeared on the moment of their death. It's because chakra takes on the appearance of our physical body and imprints it. When you die and someone calls upon your chakra, you will appear to him as what your physical body appeared the moment you breathed your last."

"You said that chakra didn't change until the moment of the owner's death."

"Size doesn't change. Shape does." He stared at Naruto. "I hope you don't have questions anymore."

Kushina raised her arm.

"Yes, Kushina?"

Kushina flinched in fear. "Aren't you the Shodai Hokage—dattebane?"

Minato gave Naruto a reassuring glance. "She's just flustered."

"I am," Hashirama said.

"Why are you still alive—dattebane?" She was shaking. She pulled Naruto closer to her.

Hashirama's eyes flashed. "Are you afraid of ghosts?"

Kushina blanched. "N-no—dattebane."

"Mom, it's okay. He's not a ghost," Naruto said.

"Then how?"

"Naruto will explain it, later," Hashirama said.

"Shouldn't you have heard our conversation, Mom?"

"No. I didn't hear anything."

"But Dad knew that I was fighting against Pain when he appeared before me."

"Let me explain that, Naruto-kun," the Third offered. "The Hashirama-sensei here is a mass of chakra like us. Chakra needs a medium to register something, to _sense_ something. Without a medium, souls can never experience. Another soul, another chakra, another existence cannot be considered a medium since they are not of the physical world."

"I see. Thanks, ojii-chan." Naruto smiled at the Third. "By the way, I'm glad to see you again."

"Same here, Naruto-kun."

"Wait, Hashirama-sensei," Minato began. He gulped. "How long…how long can we stay?"

Hashirama smiled. "Two years."

"Two years?" They blurted out.

"Yup."

"You mean, when I wake up, I'll be eighteen?" Naruto said. "No. It's not the most important. Two years is a very long time. What if I wake up on a world already destroyed by war?"

"Two years here as we will experience it."

"What do you mean?"

"We are moving twelve times as fast as the outside world because of the fast rate of chakra flow in your system. Two months in the outside world is my limit for you to attain Shihai. More than that is very dangerous. A second here is only a twelfth of a second in the outside world. So two years here is actually only two months in reality."

"But what if I didn't attain Shihai within your time limit?"

"I doubt that it would happen. With four Hokages training you and your mom for inspiration, I really doubt it."

"How about my appearance? Will I look old when I wake up?"

"It depends. But your genes are strong. I don't know how you will look after two months, really."

Naruto grew anxious from the prospect of looking like an old man after two months.

Minato put a hand on his shoulder. "Cheer up. You have your mom's and my blood running in you. No need to worry. Your mom was the most beautiful in Konoha in her time. I used to get propositions even after I married. I'm confident that you will be a good-looking man whatever happens." He winked. "Mark my words." His eyes rolled to Naruto's hair again. "I just wish that you really had a good explanation about this." He messed his son's hair.

Out of their earshot, Tobirama and Hiruzen were in the process of interrogating Hashirama.

Hashirama glanced at Minato's family. "It seems that we can't start, yet! Go ahead and have a get together!" That was all he could say before Tobirama and Hiruzen pushed him aside with their incessant questions.

Kushina started to cry. "Naruto…"

"Mom! Dad!" Naruto jumped at them, hugging them and filling their faces with kisses.

Later, Naruto would tell them about Hashirama, and Hashirama would tell his student and his brother about it, too.

…

Ika, a brunette bulldog, shot a glance at her husband. Paku was pacing, chewing on his tobacco, its smoke hovering above him like a raincloud. She was getting worked up by her husband's strange fuss. She made a last lick on her milk and went down from the table.

"Could you stop that?" she said. "You're freaking me up, for all dogs' sake!"

"They are keeping something from me," Paku said.

"I thought that you idolized your brother's impassiveness. Why are you acting as if fleas are running amok on your butt?"

Paku looked at her. "Ika, I saw my dead friend in the Wolf District. I knew it was him, but they denied it from me. Was that fair? We are of the same worlds! They should not be that secretive."

"Howdy," said a bass voice from the door. Then the head of a wrinkled pug popped out from the pet's flap. His eyes were the epitome of laziness, apathy, and total indifference. He was Kakashi's best hunt dog Pakkun. "How's everybody?"

Ika was relieved to see him. "Brother Pakkun, I'm happy that you're here. Could you spat something at this pug? He's claiming to see dead people."

"Dead people? You mean dead canines."

Ika shook her head. "No. Dead people. He's been telling me that he saw a dead friend in the Wolf District, name of Naruto."

Pakkun was obviously unaffected, or if he was, he was excellent in hiding it. "Naruto, you say?"

"Brother, I'm positive, okay. I'm sure it was Naruto. I felt the chakra of the Demon Fox. Tell me that you felt it, too."

"I was in Baba's house and doing some work. You know that it is a sealed place. I didn't feel anything."

"Brother, you must believe me. I've only been in Kakashi's summon roster for half a year, but I know the fox feel, its rough and ominous presence."

Pakkun gave his brow the slightest of movements. "Here, I'll let you touch my soft paw to calm you down."

"Please be serious."

"Kakashi will laugh at you with that attitude. But first, don't embarrass me. You know how precious it is for me to allow someone to touch my irresistible paw."

"Damn it."

Ika suppressed a giggle as her husband grudgingly lifted his left paw to touch Pakkun's. Pakkun's presence and authority overwhelmed even Baba. She had seen how Baba discarded her reputation for a couple of seconds to give in to Pakkun's urging to touch his paw. She had seen a whisper of a blush emerge on her cheeks as she crouched down to do it. Despite of his indifferent disposition, no one could resist Pakkun when he wished something. It was also the reason why he had been appointed Annals Master of the Village of Dogs. Pakkun had told her and her husband that it was a mission from Kakashi to research on Madara in the annals of the village. Pakkun had practically forced Baba on his appointment.

"How did it feel?" Pakkun said, teasing but was still as pokerfaced as ever.

"Brother, if you doubt me, then go to Baba and ask her. You know Naruto-san longer. I know, with or without the Demon Fox, that you'd be able to recognize him."

"Then quit smoking and I'll try." He walked to the table. "Ika, milk please."

"Paku—" Ika began but Paku cut her off.

Paku barked at his brother. "Even if I'm alone with my belief, I'll still find out the truth!" He crushed his tobacco, clawed at the floor with his hind legs, and climbed up the stair.

Ika watched him go, anxiously.

"I'll investigate it," Pakkun said. "I have a schedule summon with Kakashi two days from now. Might be worth a try."

…

Sasuke watched the dust swirl around the dead bodies of his victims. His eyes were lifeless. The tip of his Kusanagi dripped blood on the ground. He was standing inside the seventh laboratory of Orochimaru in the Land of Sound. One hundred two more to go. Orochimaru had instructed him to bring with him the strongest of his one hundred nine laboratories. However, he didn't feel like leaving a single one alive. He didn't care if Orochimaru killed him in the end for his defiance. He didn't care much if he died in the process, too. All he knew was he had killed the only person that had cared for him like his brother Itachi. He had discovered that he had the motivation to keep on becoming stronger because of him. His attempts to destroy Konoha had just been to tell him that he was there, he was there and ready for him. Even if he had been trying to deny it in the past, it had surfaced when he heard from him the words, "Sorry, I couldn't save you." Sorry. Not a curse. Not, "You motherfucker!" Not, "You cursed man!" It was still clear in his mind. It had been sorry and he had heard him right.

"Naruto…" he muttered through his dry lips. Tears flowed out his eyes.

…

Meanwhile, inside his lair, Madara spoke with Orochimaru. "Aren't you going to make your move against Konoha, yet?"

"Not, yet. I'm still honing my blade."

Madara smiled. Honing _his_ blade, he said. "I brought you what you need. I guess you can give me what I wish from you now."

"Is he strong?"

"Yes. I bought him from the Magnus Prison, Class S section. The worst criminal of the century."

"Good then. Take me to him."

Madara led Orochimaru into a trap door in the floor. They descended a long stairway in darkness. A few minutes passed before they reached the bottom. Madara could smell the pungent snake-sweat coming off from Orochimaru. He could feel the serpent's excitement in seeing the man he had bought for nine million Ryu. Thick chains suppressed the man in the middle. He could see through his Sharingan that the murderer was grinning at them. Behind him, he felt Orochimaru's chakra escalating.

"He is perfect."

He didn't glance behind, but he knew that Orochimaru was forming seals. His eerie manner of subjugating his chakra to execute a technique was the first he had experienced. He knew that the Third Hokage had sealed his arms away using Shiki Fuujin, but being able to be reborn through Kabuto, Orochimaru had regained his original existence. He had now returned to his original self, the one called the Genius of Dark Shinobi Art. He felt the full burst of Orochimaru's chakra behind him. In front, a wooden box emerged from the ground. The lid opened into a darker darkness that moved like tentacles. The tentacles caressed the murderer's face. He could see how the confident countenance of the murderer shattered off as the dark tentacles continued to caress his face. What replaced it was the expression of pure dread that he would admit he enjoyed watching. Behind him, Orochimaru slurped.

"Eat him whole and be free from death," he said. "Eat him, _First Son._"

The dark tentacles pulled the murderer inside. His scream reverberated in the still air, bringing a sweet melody to Madara's ears. He really enjoyed the sound of agony. He enjoyed it so much he felt an erection growing in his midsection. He could already taste the blood that would spill once he had created the strongest warrior the world had ever known.

Orochimaru did a series of hand seals. "Summoning Technique: Impure World Resurrection!"

The wooden box spun once and stopped facing them. The lid opened. Madara almost gasped in sick anticipation. Smoke came out and crawled down from the box. A foot came out. Then another. Then the whole body emerged. Madara felt the tremendous killing aura from the man.

The man opened his eyes. Madara could not have mistaken it for anyone. It was his ancestor. The only one possessing the Sharinnegan, the rippled silver eyes with the familiar pupils of the Uchiha's Sharingan. The First Son of the Sage of Six Paths.

"The technique only allows the resurrected to kill a single person. After that, he turns back to sand, never be able to be summoned again. Choose wisely."

"Killing a single man will be a waste of his abilities."

"Whatever technique you try to make him execute to kill more than one person will be futile. He will not obey."

Madara looked at Orochimaru. "He will kill thousands, perhaps millions, through a single person. He is the whetstone that will sharpen the blade you were talking about. He will train Sasuke."

A wide grin started to stretch on Orochimaru's face. Then it erupted to laughter. Motionlessly, the First Son stared ahead.

Sasuke walked in the direction of the eighth laboratory.

_To be continued…_


	23. Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23: Tick Tock

It was a nice feeling. Naruto forgot every problem he had. He liked watching his mom animatedly telling stories she had not been able to tell him the last time they saw each other. He liked to hear his father's voice as he added asides that embarrassed her mother every time. He liked seeing his boyish mom hook an arm around his father's neck to punish him. He liked the feel of finally being with the people he had been born to. Not one at a time, but together at the same time.

"You know, son," Minato said, "your mom was so defenseless when she was your age. I always succeeded in kissing her when she was not looking."

"Yeah. And your father went home with a black eye every time."

"Not every time."

"Every time, too."

"Was not."

"Was, too!"

"Ah, really? Then what will you call that one time when _you_ stole a kiss from me? I didn't go home bruised that time."

Kushina's cheeks reddened. "We were talking about you stealing kisses from me!"

Naruto laughed. "I'm glad that you went along well in your younger days."

"How about you, Naruto? I'm sure you have a girlfriend now." Kushina had an ambivalent look in her eyes, like she wanted for Naruto to answer positively and negatively at the same time.

Naruto humbly tilted his head. "Ummm, I don't have any, Mom."

Minato blinked. "What? That's surprising. I don't remember having problems with girls before."

Kushina hissed at Minato. "Minato!"

"That's okay, Mom. It's true. I'm afraid to pursue a relationship with a girl. Making friends is already hard for me."

Kushina gave Naruto a small hug. "You should not think like that especially now that you don't have the whiskers on your face and you look more like a girl." She framed Naruto's face in her hands. "If you had my hair, we would look like twins. Right, Minato?"

Minato was all sincerity. "Yes. Believe Mom because she is a fan of pretty things. Did you know that she fell in love with a pretty girl when she was fourteen?"

Kushina blanched. "Minato!"

"Mom was closer to girls because the boys were afraid of her."

Kushina threw her sandal at Minato. "Will you shut up?"

Naruto chuckled. "I'm sure not all of the boys were afraid of Mom. Mom is pretty. It is easy to fall in love with Mom."

Kushina grinned at her son. She was blushing. "Hearing that, it's difficult for me now to believe that you haven't had any girlfriends before."

"Or maybe it's the other way around." Minato offered.

Kushina frowned at Minato.

"I mean, it's possible that there are many girls who are trying to pursue a relationship with Naruto, but are afraid because Naruto doesn't act like he's interested."

Naruto laughed. "It's not like that, Dad!"

Minato stared into Naruto's eyes.

Naruto averted his eyes. Saki had been blunt about her interest in him. "Maybe."

Now, Kushina was looking closely at Naruto—maternal jealousy on the move. "Hmmm?"

"Hey," Hashirama called out. "Finished talking?"

Naruto saw a chance to escape. He stood up. "Hashirama-sensei. Good to see you."

Kushina pulled Naruto back. "Naruto, I don't want the sound that your father's words imply. Assure me that you will never play with girls' feelings. Ever."

Naruto made a comic gesture of crossing his heart in front of her mother. "I promise, Mom. I'll never do that."

"Good." Kushina stood up. "We're finished, Hashirama-sama. Thank you for giving us the time."

"You're welcome. So, Naruto, are you ready to hear about what your training is gonna be?"

Naruto's eyes flared up. "Yes, Hashirama-sensei."

…

Hashirama took them to the edge of the world he had created. And upon casting their eyes at the unbelievable sight ahead, they gaped. Sitting on a narrow stone hill was a giant Naruto. The giant had the whiskers and the golden hair Naruto had once had. It sat there as if from a tiresome day, head hanging on its neck, hands limp against its knees. The multitude of narrow hills stood magnificently around the giant. Clouds surrounded the tips of the hills, swirling, on the other hand, around the giant's waist.

"It's me," Naruto muttered.

The giant Naruto raised its head, and seeing him, grinned. "So you came." Its voice was thunder itself. "Are you here to accept my dominion?"

"It's the fox's chakra," Hashirama said. "It's the one that you must defeat. It knows everything you've learned until now."

"Then how the hell can my son defeat that monster?" Kushina asked. "It's as strong as my son and it's…" she glanced in the direction of the giant, "…huge."

"The fox's chakra is now a separate entity. Minato's Hakke Fuin has enclosed it inside a separate space."

The giant Naruto attempted to stand, but it couldn't. "Come here! I'll give you infinite power! I'll make the world acknowledge your existence as you have dreamed!"

"My. Minato's Hakke Fuin is quite strong. So it can't move freely even inside its allotted space," Hashirama said.

"Why is it talking like that? Did it regain its will?" Naruto asked.

"No. It's basing its words on the personality it has copied from you. It's you talking to yourself."

"I won't talk like that."

Hashirama raised his eyebrow.

"Now, I mean."

"Listen. It _wants_ to control you. It's not necessarily bad. It only wants to rule over you."

The giant opened its mouth and shot a ball of chakra at them. The ball struck a mirror-like barrier in front of them and disappeared. "Why don't we fight, now? See who has the right to be the sentient being?"

Hashirama put a hand on the barrier. "If my calculation is correct, this barrier will break after two months in real time, so you need to be strong enough to beat it when that time comes. Training while this monster is out to hunt you down is dangerous. That was why I said that you must attain Shihai in two months. The things you shall learn from us will be exclusive to you. It will not learn anything in the duration of your training because nothing of its chakra can leak out, not like before. You must do your best."

"Hey," the giant taunted, "I can keep that brain of yours as it is if you let me hold the wheel. Don't you want it? You'll be as smart as Shikamaru. Things will change around you."

Naruto stared into the eyes of his giant self. The smile of confidence faded on the giant's face. They shared a moment of solemn contemplation.

"I will wait for you, then," the giant Naruto said. "I'll wait until you are prepared to face off against me."

Naruto spread his hand over the barrier. "I want to remain as myself. I'll defeat you."

A twitch materialized on the corner of the giant's mouth, but it was gone in an instant. "Do what you want." The giant relaxed and assumed the position it had been in a while ago. It hung its head and slept.

Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Minato. "You've just demonstrated the strength of your will, son. The first round is yours."

…

Yet again, they stood gaping at the unbelievable sight ahead. After their meeting with the giant Naruto, Hashirama had taken them to a village. But it was not just any other village he remembered with his perfect memory. Hashirama had brought them to the Konoha that he had ruled three generations ago: the Shodai Konoha. It was full of activity, full of life. People were all smiles.

"I needed to use some of your chakra on this, Naruto," Hashirama said. "But it's a rare opportunity for me. I want you to learn as much as you can—of course, your parents, too—of how Konoha appeared in the past."

"This is so nostalgic," Tobirama said.

Hiruzen wiped his eyes. "The village… Konoha… Thank you, Sensei."

Hashirama said, "I want you to feel like we are in the real world. Remember that this is just an illusion. You are in my Genjutsu. But I've recreated everything out of my memory. And Tobirama knows that I have a perfect memory. You can talk with the people and they shall reply back as how they replied me in the past."

"Do you mean that you had spoken with every villager in your time?" Naruto asked.

"As Hokage, it's your basic responsibility to know your people. Tobirama and Minato had another approach in doing it, but I and Hiruzen took it literally and personally."

"It's Hokage-sama!" a girl blurted out. She was with a group of five children, searching for bugs.

"Yumi!" Hashirama said. "Come here."

The child ran to him and bragged about a lady bug she had caught.

"He's caught up with his own Genjutsu," Kushina muttered to Minato.

"What's wrong with that? Hashirama-sama only wants us to enjoy our two-year stay here. If you don't give in to the Genjutsu and think of it as a mere deception, how will you mother your charming son here and…" he put his hand on Kushina's waist and pulled her to him, "…make me happy as my wife?"

Tobirama, Hiruzen, and even Naruto blushed.

Kushina pushed Minato away. "This is not the time and place for that, Minato."

Minato didn't let go. "Ummm, Hashirama-sama?"

"Yes?"

He looked at Kushina, smiling flirtatiously. "Can we make a baby here?"

Hashirama laughed. "I'm sorry, but you can't."

Minato's smile widened. "That's good news. I've awfully missed my wife."

Kushina grinned evilly. "Oh, really?" She stomped on Minato's foot. Minato howled and jumped up and down. "Come on, Naruto. Let's leave your idiotic father here." She dragged away Naruto by the wrist.

The girl, who was now sitting astride on Hashirama's nape, and her friends, who had showed up from the bushes, laughed at the typical scene only possible if a family got along very well.

…

Pakkun dealt with the dark underground tunnel connecting Baba's house and the Holy Cave. He reached a dark vast space with a spiraling walkway against the wall, going up towards a lighted platform. He climbed up the walkway. On the lighted platform, there was a wall. The wall was free of any markings. It was surreally smooth. Only a small circular dent provided the imperfection. Pakkun brought out a black medallion from his shirt and, using his mouth, placed it inside the dent. The medallion turned clockwise until the sculpted head of a wolf in it was upside down. There was a grunt. Then louder rumblings as the smooth wall turned around an axis and formed a door for him. He entered the door. Once inside, the wall moved back to place.

...

Why every time she went to this place she felt lightheaded, nervous, but pleased?

She shrugged. She couldn't explain it.

Setsuko watched the sleeping face of Naruto, which was illuminated by sunlight entering through the small holes in the ceiling. He looked different now. His face became sharper, leaner, and more handsome. Not even handsome in its proper denotation. He looked…gorgeous, more like a lady than a man. The first time she had seen him, he didn't look like this. He was like a different man altogether. The whiskers on his face had vanished and his hair, which had gone black through his intake of Hashirama's pills, accentuated his pale complexion. His appearance was beautiful enough to be accepted into the Wolf-folk standard. She felt two warm patches on her cheeks.

She rolled the pill between her fingers as she stared closer at Naruto. Zuko had also commented on Naruto's change the last time he was here. Zuko had said that Naruto looked as if he got somewhat older. She looked over her left shoulder, then over her right, checking if someone could be watching somewhere near. Finding none, she went a step closer so that their faces were close enough to kiss. She discovered that she liked watching him, him and his sculpted face. She was also thrilled by the idea of seeing his body without his clothes, chiding herself at the same time that such an idea had occurred in her mind. But no one was there to give her a reproachful look. Baba had gone out. Kinjo couldn't enter the Holy Cave. The Founder showed himself only to Baba. She was alone with this gorgeous man, so it was okay.

Her eyes darted down to his lips, only a word in her head, stamped syllable by syllable: de-li-cious. A crazy idea came to her mind. She bit her lower lip as she looked at the pill. No one was there, right? She checked for herself. The coast was clear. She glanced up at his face again, darted her eyes down his lips again, and then put the pill in her mouth. She grabbed his head and tiptoed up to him. She paused for a split second, and then went on. Her lips enclosed his and, using her tongue, she pushed the pill inside. It was not really necessary to do that. On her first days of administering the pill, she had just done it normally. But the urge to taste those deliciously-looking lips of his had overwhelmed her. She stayed for a few seconds more before she let go. She pushed Naruto's chin up so that the pill would fall down his throat. She observed his sleeping face again. Then suddenly, she felt a presence behind her. The nervousness, the lightheadedness, and the pleasure disappeared. She looked behind her and found a small dog, but her attention went back to Naruto, mouth agape.

"Don't tell me I did it again."

Pakkun went to her. "You're human."

"This place is doing something to me."

"You can stand on water. Are you a kunoichi?"

"Is this cave enchanted? At first it was just a curious feeling. Then everyday it deepened until I began kissing this guy."

Pakkun's big, lazy eyeballs rolled towards her. "This is the Holy Cave. The sacred atmosphere in here unmasks anyone of his or her inhibition."

"What?"

"The Holy Cave pulls the truth in an existence. The pattern of behavior created by the physical embodiment of an existence is broken whether it is essential or not. I saw you kissing him. With that skill of detection, you must only be an academy-level kunoichi. I've been observing you from a distance."

"You mean to say…" she looked at Naruto, "…I'm infatuated with him?"

"One way or the other, or you were just curious. I'm not sure. But I didn't come here to explain things to you. Where is Baba?"

"It's impossible. This shrimp?"

"It's not polite to ignore someone older than you, kid."

"It doesn't make sense." She turned around and ran off from the place.

Pakkun watched her as she disappeared from his sight. "Kids these days." He looked up at Naruto. "He doesn't look like Naruto, although there is a semblance of similarity." He jumped off onto Naruto's shoulder and sniffed him. He froze. "Oh. This is interesting. No mistaking it. This kid is Naruto. Should I tell this to Kakashi?" He considered. "Nah. Better to ask Baba first." He jumped down and went back the way he had come from as if he had gone there for nothing. Eternally apathetic.

…

In Tanimori, in a forest of giant boulders and canyons, Tsuneo watched beside Hibarashi. They sat on a blanket on top of one of the largest canyons. Tsuneo and Hibarashi smoked their pipes.

"How many dances has she managed to master already?" Hibarashi asked, blowing smoke through his toothless mouth. His fingers were as thin as the circumference of the pipe.

"She's on her forty-second dance," Tsuneo said.

In the distance, boulders began to explode one by one at a fast pace. Then canyons erupted into dust and debris of rocks, blowing up in thunders and gushes of wind. There was one time when five consecutive blows went off inside one second.

"Oh," Hibarashi said. "Scary."

"You haven't seen anything, yet."

Out of nowhere, fifteen large boulders rose up in the air. Hibarashi followed the incredible sight. Tsuneo grinned in pride. Before the boulders began to drop, Midori leaped up—her hair widely flapping against her back, dirty as a pauper—twirled her lance, and disappeared. At the same time, the boulders exploded into nothing but particles of dust.

"Good heavens," Hibarashi said. The pipe fell from his wrinkled lips. "It's the Descent of the God of Blades. Only Sayuri could use that skill." He stood up on wobbly legs and stared at the dust, which had been the boulders just a while ago. "Impressive."

Midori appeared before them, eyes like new dug iron. "I'm prepared, Father."

Tsuneo smiled. "It's time."

They returned to Hibarashi's estate. The short old man ambled in front of them, leading them to Luka Lake, named after the first ancestor of the Shibari clan. At the center of the lake, bridged by white marble pathway, was an octagon platform. At the center of the platform stood a gleaming sarcophagus of a girl.

"Follow me," Hibarashi said.

The smell of fresh water filled their noses. School of fishes, curious, swam near the marble bridge and followed them along as they walked. They reached the sarcophagus.

"This is the coffin of Luka, the first woman of the Shibari clan," Hibarashi said. "This is her tomb. She is said to be the most ferocious blade handler in her time. She defeated even brilliant men in battle." He looked at Midori. "Her soul is still here, inside this tomb. It is speculated by wise men that she refused to leave because until this very day, no one has defeated her in battle. Many warriors, men and women alike, have already tried to fight her, but until now, no one has come back victorious. Every one of them is inside the tomb, dead. Are you prepared, Midori?"

"I am."

Hibarashi looked at Tsuneo. What he found on his face was confidence and nothing short of it.

"I believe in my daughter," he said. "She will defeat Luka-sama."

Hibarashi sighed. "Very well." He cut his thumb with a blade and dripped a drop of blood to the groove at the sarcophagus's foot. The lid of the sarcophagus clanged and swung around, revealing the empty space inside. "Get in, Midori."

Midori obeyed. She went in facing them.

"Good luck," Hibarashi said.

Tsuneo nodded.

Midori managed to smile reassuringly.

The sarcophagus's lid swung back in place. The floor soon parted, and slowly, the sarcophagus descended. When the top of the metal coffin cleared the floor, it closed.

"The sarcophagus shall return back here without Midori," Hibarashi said. "It will only go down to fetch her after Luka's presence disappears. Do you really think that she can do it?"

"Yes. One way or the other."

…

"I kissed him, I kissed him, I kissed him. Why the hell did I do that?" Setsuko muttered to herself as she walked in the direction of Kinjo's house. "And that dog had the guts to tell me that I might have a crush on that kid? Me? No more. I'll give the pills to Father."

"Setsuko," Kinjo called out from a bench near his tree.

"Father."

"What is it? You look like something is bothering you."

"This is nothing, Father."

Kinjo stood up and approached Setsuko. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm fine. Let's begin my training."

"Oh, about that. I've been thinking of what you told me about making you a Sage."

Setsuko brightened up. "You've decided to make me a Sage?"

Kinjo smiled. "Yes."

"Really?"

"Uhuh."

Setsuko threw her arms around Kinjo. "Thank you, thank you very much!"

"But you have to do something for me first."

"Anything!"

"Come with me."

Kinjo took Setsuko to a desolated valley four hours from the Wolf District. The place emanated death. Only bones were the sign that once in the past it had been visited by living creatures. The sharp rocks around were like the layered razor teeth of a shark. The air was pungent and somewhat sticky against the skin. Ahead, on the belly of the cliff, there were holes that appeared like the sockets of skull bored in every place without pattern by beings Setsuko wouldn't attempt to imagine.

"This is what I want you to do," Kinjo said. He summoned a huge barrel the size of a water tank. It cast a wide shadow on them. "I want you to fill this up with honey."

"Honey?" Setsuko said, frowning.

"Inside each of those holes, colonies of Mitsubachi-kira gather honey from nectars they collect from different parts of the Village of Dogs. One hole can already fill up this barrel with honey. Mitsubachi-kira's honey is the most nutritious and most delicious—" Kinjo frowned. "Why are you blushing?"

"G-go on! I just remembered something. It's unimportant."

Kinjo stared at Setsuko, suspiciously. "As what I was saying, the honey of these insects is the most nutritious and most delicious of all. The energy content of one glass of Mitsubachi-kira honey could sustain you for one week. It has no fat and the calories it gives burn easily. Also, even if it's sweet, it prevents the formation of acid on teeth, preventing tooth decay. We have had a low supply of Mitsubachi-kira honey for a long time because only few gatherers remain in the village. Collecting the honey is a very dangerous job. If you're not capable enough, you will die. Watch." He picked up a stone, imbued it with chakra, and threw it in the direction of the holes. Before it could land on the ground, it suddenly turned into sand.

"I saw them, Father. Bees."

"Yes. They are bees all right, but not the ordinary kind. Normally, you have to be bitten multiple times by bees before the poison gets fatal. But Mitsubachi-kira's sting can kill you instantly with just a drop. They attack anything that has chakra." He threw another stone without chakra. It landed whole on the ground. "They ignore empty things."

"So, to get the honey, I have to learn how to hide my chakra."

"Not necessarily, although that's the best way to do it."

"Then how will I be able to get near the hole?"

"You need to be a Sage."

Setsuko looked at him.

"Naruto-sama is a Toad Sage. His training involved being still as a statue so that he could mold the Sage energy and change into Sage Mode without turning into a frog. A Wolf Sage's training is different. The training focuses a lot of importance to a mammal's attribute, which is being warm-bloodied. Instead of molding the natural energy surrounding you, you need to learn how to mold you chakra to be one with the natural energy. In other words, you need to be as natural as the trees or rocks or water or wind, so that the bees won't attack you."

"Tell me how, Father."

"Okay, then, let's start."

…

Pakkun waited for Baba in her house. When she entered in, Pakkun got directly to the point.

"I know you know that the kid in the Holy Cave is Uzumaki Naruto," he said. "I just want to know why you kept that fact from my brother."

"I can't decide on that matter. Are you planning to tell this to Kakashi-sama?"

"I really don't care."

"Then decide after he wakes up."

Pakkun shrugged. "That maybe is the best thing to do."

So, when Kakashi summoned Pakkun, the pug kept his mouth shut about the matter.

"Madara is a Dimensional Technique master. He has a large repertoire of techniques and a master of five different styles of Taijutsu. His summons are from the Village of Demons. From a written journal of one of my fellow dog's master, he established a large group of powerful rogue ninjas called the Swallow. This is the group that brings him power and wealth. The other group, of course, is Akatsuki, which focuses in collecting the tailed-beasts and executing the Moon's Eye Plan."

"Tell me about this Swallow."

"The Swallow, according to the journal, is composed of four divisions: the Head, the Right Wing, the Tail, and the Left Wing. Only the Right Wing and the Left Wing are active right now. The Right Wing is currently working for a dictator in the west, while the Left Wing was last seen in the border of Sanmyaku and Ginza. That's all that I can tell you."

"That's already a lot. Thank you," Kakashi said.

"It's my duty. Hey, Kakashi, could you give me a summon slip?"

"A summon slip?"

"You know, so that if an emergency occurs, I can summon myself here in Konoha. One will be enough."

Kakashi scrutinized Pakkun. "Is it something about the job I've given you?"

Pakkun tilted his head. "No. This is an independent investigation."

"Sounds suspicious."

"One will not hurt."

"Well, all right." Kakashi pulled a summon slip from his vest and gave it to Pakkun.

"Thanks."

Kakashi made a seal. Pakkun disappeared into smoke.

…

Seconds became minutes and minutes became hours and hours became days and days became weeks. The sand fell down. Clocks ticked continuously.

Time passed by, would change nothing, and then, in a blink, would change everything.

_To be continued…_

Author's Note: ZetsubouZack had a better idea for the name of the First Son's eyes. I changed Rinsharingan to Sharinnegan. It sounds cooler. Thanks Zetsu! And I want to thank narutokurosaki, too, for twisting my arm so that I'd delve the mystery behind Hashirama's revival. Thanks a lot, guys!_  
_


	24. Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24: Tobirama Senju vs. Naruto Uzumaki

The morning sunshine shone through the window of Naruto's room. The breeze danced with the curtain; it twisted the fabric, let go, and then caressed Naruto's face. The curtain filtered the sunlight, but the light that could come through diminished the darkness in the room.

Knocks disturbed the silence.

"Naruto, honey, I'm coming in, okay?" Kushina said.

No answer came from inside.

Kushina turned the knob and pushed the door in. She found Naruto lying on his stomach on the bed. He had gone straight to bed last night. He had been tired to the bones because of his training with chakra nature transformations. Minato was his teacher. Like his son, he had gone straight to bed. Kushina couldn't have roused them even with water.

Kushina approached the bed and shook Naruto. "Naruto. Hey, Naruto, wake up. The sun is already high."

Naruto stirred.

"Honey, come on. The food will get cold."

"Five more minutes, Mom."

"No. There has not been a single time that your five minutes was really five minutes."

"But, Mom…" He pulled the pillow and buried his face in it.

Kushina sighed, but there was a smile on her lips. She liked being a mother to Naruto. "Okay, then. I'll just take your breakfast here."

Naruto perked up. "No, no. I'm awake! I'm awake, Mom."

"No. You do your five minutes and I'm going to feed you."

Naruto got out of bed and blocked Kushina. "I'm awake, see?"

"Why don't you let me feed you? I want to do that."

"Mom, it's okay. And please remember that I'm already sixteen."

"So? I like it when I feed you."

"It's because…"

Kushina looked into his eyes.

"It's embarrassing, Mom." Naruto blushed. He looked at his toes.

Kushina pinched Naruto's nose, giggling. "I'm just kidding, Naruto. You go down now and clean yourself up while I wake your father."

Once out of the door, Naruto sighed in relief.

…

Seven months had already passed in the realm that Hashirama had made. On the first two months, Naruto had completed the training that he should have finished under Zuko's supervision. With the fox's chakra separated from him, he had found out that doing a handstand over his Rasengan on the tip of a metal pyramid was a simple task. It was more difficult to understand how Hashirama had created a world not different from what was outside. When confronted about it, Hashirama had told him that everything around them was an almost perfect replica of things in the real world.

"In this world, mind is god," he had said. "This world is an illusion, but I created it with the clarity my memory had provided me. You can breathe the air, drink the water, and touch the earth."

Naruto looked at Hashirama.

"How will you define an illusion, Naruto?"

"Something which makes you believe a make-believe?"

"A common misconception. You're only talking about magic tricks, misdirection. Illusion is something all your senses recognize and your existence will act accordingly to. It could be as torturous as Uchiha Itachi's Tsukuyomi or as pleasing as Yuhi Kurenai's Eden, an experience you can deny as anything but reality itself." Hashirama waited for a reply. Naruto was considering what he had said. "Have you heard about the belief that our world is an illusion of God?"

Naruto shook his head.

"According to that belief, God has an infinite chakra. He is eternal. He is perfect. But because of this perfection, He became curious about life. What if His chakra was limited? So He tore a pinch from his chakra and made the first man."

"If that was true, then why didn't we have his mind?"

Hashirama cocked his brow. "Didn't we?"

"What do you mean?"

"All of us, consciously or unconsciously, want to be Him. Consciously because some of us strive to make that desire into reality. In other words, some of us know that our actions will lead to the satisfaction of that desire. Unconsciously because some of us only content ourselves with dreams, but do things without noticing that our actions will lead to the fulfillment of those dreams." He paused. "If that is not enough to explain it, then how about love? How about hate? How about our need of freedom? Don't you think those things are mysterious enough that we can't pinpoint where they come from? Why can we conceive ideas we haven't experienced before?" Hashirama looked at Naruto. "Don't you think it's impossible for us if we don't have a fundamental existence to base ourselves from?"

"There are bad people and good people. Does that mean that we also got that from God?"

"Yes. God is the origin of everything, and we have His capacity to be and create _anything_. However, unlike Him, we have a limited life, a limited amount of energy, and a limited time to complete what He can finish with His infinity." Hashirama exhaled. "But here in your mind, we shrunk small enough to the point where the little amount of chakra, in God's world's standard, that I had imparted into you is virtually limitless. That's why I was able to create an almost perfect illusion that your mind is able to recognize and experience like reality."

It was hard for Naruto to believe in Hashirama's words outright. But they offered a detailed explanation that made him comfortable. His parents, the Third, and the Second had been uninterested with facts and whatnots about Hashirama's world, so why should he spend time thinking about it? He could experience a world nothing short of what it should be, and that was enough. His goal was not to find the truth about its mystery, anyway. He was there to defeat the fox's chakra and attain Shihai.

…

"We will just do some routines then go home," Minato said. They were walking towards the forest. "No more training until your fight with Tobirama-sama."

"Okay."

When they reached the forest of pine trees, Naruto started his routine. He spread his arms and exhaled, feeling the wind curl around him. He opened his eyes and smiled at his father. He crouched on his haunches, charged up his chakra, and leaped towards the sky. He went past the trees, but continued on shooting upwards until he slowed down and stopped. He looked down at the forest below. The trees were a mass of green in his point of view. The Konoha River snaked towards the Sky's Descent Falls. A wide desert to the north shone like gold soaked in blood. The ice cap of the mountain range to the east flashed him a blinding smile.

He felt gravity finally pulling at him. He lay supine on nothing but air.

He could do it, now, call on to the wind. Using his chakra, he could grab it as if it was solid, commandeer it as if it was a ship, and instruct it as if it was a servant. In seven months, he had mastered the nature of his chakra. But not only that. With his mastery, he discovered how to control the wind itself.

After finishing his first two months of training, Hashirama had allotted another two months for him to master his Sage Mode. He could now stay in Sage Mode for a maximum of two hours and forty-seven minutes if under constant pressure, and twenty-three hours and four minutes without pressure. Hashirama had told him that once he attained Shihai, the length of time he could stay in Sage Mode would increase dramatically.

It is a requirement for a Toad Sage to mold first the natural energy one collects from the surrounding before he or she can use it as fuel for Sage Mode. Jiraiya had to fuse with Fukasaku and his wife so that the two frogs could mold the natural energy for him without him having to stay still. In Naruto's case, in the past, Naruto had to leave shadow clones to stay still and mold the natural energy for him. Lately, he had been able to change into Sage Mode without them, but he could not control how long his Sage Mode would last—his fight with Zuko had shown that. If he wanted be certain of the length he could be in Sage Mode, he needed his clones. It was impractical, Hashirama had said, and dangerous since the shadow clones could be easily attacked. That had been why Naruto had to learn outstanding chakra control—the main goal of the first stage of his training—so that he could mold the natural energy in him without having to stay still. "It's all about excellent command of your chakra circulatory system," Hashirama had said.

Naruto closed his eyes, and when he opened it, he was in Sage Mode. He transformed his chakra to wind and made his descent to the ground slow. He succeeded in landing on a branch of a pine, swaying with it as it danced with the wind. He jumped off when he reached the tip. He landed in front of his father.

"One round of sparring and we're off," Minato said.

Naruto grinned. "Sure, Dad."

…

And so, the fateful day came.

Tobirama chose a place in the desert where he wanted his fight with Naruto to take place. The place offered a handful of hills and boulders for hiding. Ninety percent of the place was solid ground.

Tobirama and Naruto faced each other. No sign of laxness on Tobirama. Naruto was nervous. Hashirama, Minato, Hiruzen, and Kushina were their audience.

The wind lifted Hashirama's hair. "Listen, you two. There are three things than you need to know. First, you can do a summoning technique here."

"Eh?" Naruto said. "But how? We're in an enclosed space."

"Since Hakke Fuin regulates the entrance of chakra, you can only summon a part of your summon's chakra enough for it to materialize in our scale of existence. You'll know once you use the technique. Second, the amount of your chakra is proportional to your stamina, like in the outside world. While the amount of your chakra decreases, it will be harder to breathe, and you'll start to be transparent. If you deplete your chakra to the extent that no one can see you anymore, you will disappear."

"You mean…?"

"Yes. In Tobirama's case, he will not be able to see you defeat the fox's chakra. In your case, the fox's chakra will gain dominion over you—I mean, technically, since you won't be able to continue your training."

"Huh? But this is my body, right? This is my mind. Why was there a risk that I might disappear?"

"Look up."

Naruto looked up at the sky. He saw five spheres of light. He had seen them before, but only thought of them as part of Hashirama's sense of aesthetics. "I see five moons."

"When your chakra became erratic, the chakra I transferred into you activated. I was free for a time, and while you were sleeping, I molded my chakra to make this world. However, the Hakke Fuin moved in and enclosed this space. It didn't permit the complete amount of chakra I brought with me to enter. Those spheres you're seeing are my chakra, Tobirama's, Hiruzen's, and your parents'. Unfortunately, the Hakke Fuin enclosure only permits a small amount of chakra to exist at a given time. I had to infuse some of the group's chakra in me to make it possible for them to co-exist with us within the enclosure. When they were out, the enclosure balanced our existence and let them shape up to their true appearances. If the information of our existence disappears inside the enclosure, even if our chakra—the moons—are still large up there, we can't exist here anymore."

"But you said that we could summon…"

"I realized that the Hakke Fuin was only particular about the size of an existence, not the number of existence in here. What the seal is actually doing is converting us into smaller beings based on its set scale of conversion, and I tell you that it's strict. We are the same as what our actual selves are in the real world, so, for example, if your chakra stamina is five times mine, then it remains as that. We just shrunk." He paused. "Be aware of this fact, okay. I don't want anyone disappearing before this ordeal is finished. If you notice that you are beginning to become transparent but you still want to continue fighting, hide from your opponent for a while until your chakra is replenished. This will be just like a fight in the real world, so be careful."

Tobirama nodded.

"Okay," Naruto said.

"Now the third, you can kill your opponent."

Naruto gaped.

"Remember that we don't have our physical bodies to worry about here. If your head gets crushed, just rest for at least twenty minutes, and it will regenerate back. However, there will be blood, so please, refrain from doing something brutal."

Kushina suddenly went in front of Hashirama. She wanted to say something but could only stare in his eyes.

Hashirama put his hand on Kushina's head. "Don't worry. I'll make sure that nothing goes out of control. Are you ready, guys?"

Tobirama and Naruto stared at each other.

"Let's begin."

Tobirama and Naruto disappeared.

…

Both Tobirama and Naruto found two small plateaus facing each other, and there they did their stare-off. Nobody had told Naruto about Tobirama. All he knew was Tobirama had the affinity to water. Generally, he expected that Tobirama would use a lot of water techniques.

"Among all the major chakra nature elements, the most difficult for wind to go against is water," Minato had told him. "You should be very careful in attacking and defending against Tobirama-sama's water techniques."

Naruto decided to test Tobirama first. He created two shadow clones. By raising his hand and pointing at Tobirama, he told his clones their target. The two clones nodded at each other. They leaped off from the plateau, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

Tobirama just waited for Naruto's clones. The clone at the right formed a Rasengan. Reaching him, the clone thrust the Rasengan forward. Tobirama barely moved from his place, his red eyes not flickering a bit. He caught the clone's arm and tossed him aside. The clone crashed behind him, resulting to an explosion of rocks. The other was clearly not trying to attack him for it landed a few feet away. It made seals and cried out, "Water Release: Thick Fog!" The fog that went out the clone's mouth was only thick enough to render it silhouette.

"You used a water technique against me. How interesting," Tobirama said. When he was turning around to face the second clone, he was surprised to feel a presence beside him. It was the first clone. _He created a three-hit shadow clone! _(Three-hit shadow clone needs to be hit fatally three times to disperse.) The clone attacked with kicks and punches at high speed. Tobirama struggled to defend himself from being hit. _Using the fog to distract me, deceiving me so that I would believe that he made a wrong decision in technique choice, he used the split-second chance to shorten the distance for his clone to attack._ _I'd better stop underestimating this kid! _He increased his speed until one hand was enough for him to defend against the attacking clone. With his free hand, he formed hand seals.

The second clone yelled, "Earth Release: Hungry Earth!" A quicksand materialized beneath Tobirama. Tobirama was caught-off guard. He began sinking. When he was buried to his chest, he heard Naruto's voice. It was a third clone in the air. It held over its head a large ball of chakra. "Great Ball Rasengan!" The clone threw the Rasengan at him. When it hit, the plateau turned into debris of rocks and sand. The three clones disappeared into smoke.

"He got him!" Kushina blurted out.

"That was a nice combination attack," the Third said.

"Nice opening performance for Naruto," Hashirama said.

"Why are you talking as if he didn't inflict any damage to Tobirama-sama?" Kushina asked.

"Watch."

As the plateau collapsed, a ball of water shot out amidst the falling chunks of rocks, aiming at Naruto. Naruto created hand seals. "Earth Release: Earth Dragon Missile!" A head of a dragon protruded from the neck of the plateau, opened its mouth, and launched multiple projectiles at the ball of water. Eventually, the ball seemed to submit to the unyielding barrage of earth projectiles hitting it. It opened up. However, it was not really submitting to the attack. It opened but, suddenly, separated into two water dragons.

"Water Release: Double Dragon Assassination!" Tobirama yelled.

The two dragons were so fast and huge. Naruto was only as large as the dragons' eyes. Tobirama was standing on the head of the left dragon.

Naruto acted fast. "Earth Release: Earth Wall!" A dam grew in front of him to block the dragons.

Tobirama grinned. "Wrong move, Naruto."

Behind him, Naruto heard, "Water Release: Water Shockwave!" It was Tobirama's shadow clone. A tidal wave rushed towards Naruto, and, because of the earth wall, he was trapped. The mass of water hit him full force.

"Naruto!" Kushina called out.

"See? Tobirama created that clone while Naruto's first clone was attacking him. He made it sneak behind Naruto to attack on his signal," Hashirama said.

"However, even with his small lapses, no one can deny that Naruto is fighting in Kage level," the Third commented.

"Oh, you haven't seen anything, yet," Minato offered.

Tobirama landed on top of the earth wall. The water below was beginning to recede. "Stop lying there and come out."

Naruto shot out of the water like a bullet in the direction away from Tobirama. Tobirama watched him land on the ground. Naruto was in Sage Mode.

"Good," Tobirama said.

Naruto bit his thumb and called out, "Summoning Technique: Gamabunta!" And the large red boss of the toads appeared, complete with his pipe, mafia robe, and short sword.

"What the hell...? I don't remember being a summon to anyone anymore…" Gamabunta trailed-off. "Naruto?"

"Hi, boss, long time no see."

Gamabunta's eyes widened. "I thought you were already dead."

"Nope."

Gamabunta noticed Tobirama. He frowned. "Tobirama?"

Tobirama smiled at him. "Hi there, old frog."

"I told you I was not a frog! I'm a toad, a toad! But…why are you here? I don't understand this." And when he noticed the people watching from the distance, "Good heavens, am I dreaming?" Minato was waving at him. "Minato? Hiruzen? Kushina? And…this can't be possible…Hashirama-sama?"

"It's a long story, boss. Right now, I need to defeat Tobirama-oji-chan."

"Don't tell me this is the Impure World Resurrection."

"No. Nothing of that. They are just training me. After this, I'll tell you everything. Right now, I need your assistance."

Gamabunta wiped the tears that sprouted in his eyes. "I thought I'd never see you again. Seeing you alive and kicking makes me happy." He sighed. "All right. Let's defeat Tobirama."

"Thanks."

"I can sense a more regulated flow of chakra in you."

"Actually, I don't have my physical body right now. And you don't have yours, too."

"You mean we are just chakra?" Gamabunta considered for a while. He looked up and saw the five moons. "I see. Now I understand. Make sure to tell me everything when you have the time."

"Okay."

"Hmmm." Gamabunta looked at Tobirama. "You sure picked a troublesome opponent."

"I've been having a lot of trouble for a while now."

Tobirama started forming seals. Gamabunta's eyes bulged. "Naruto, stop him from completing the hand seals, now!"

"What?" Naruto glanced up.

"Quickly! He needs to do four-hundred-thirty hand seals. At his rate, he will complete it in ten seconds."

Naruto made his move. "Fire Release: Fire Dragon Missile!" He put two fingers below his lower lip and began spitting fire bullets at Tobirama.

Tobirama's clone went in front of Tobirama. "Water Release: Water Encampment Wall!" Water materialized from nowhere and swirled around to make a water sphere around the clone. It shielded Tobirama from Naruto's fire projectiles. The surrounding began to fill with water vapor as the fire projectiles continued to hit the water encampment.

"Hit him with numbers, Naruto!" Gamabunta said.

Naruto hastily made ten shadow clones. They appeared around him on top of Gamabunta's head. Gamabunta jumped up. While in air, Naruto and his clones created giant Rasengans. "Sage Art: Super Great Ball Spiralling Large Group Spheres!" He and his clones threw their giant Rasengans at Tobirama.

Tobirama glanced up. "Too late. Water God Art: Origin of the Sea!" The balls continued their descent, but he was confident. Loud rumblings emanated from the ground, followed by strong tremors.

"He has completed the seals. This is bad for Naruto," Hashirama said.

Kushina held on to Minato. "What's happening?"

"This is one of Tobirama-sensei's ultimate techniques," Hiruzen said. "He's serious."

Tobirama clapped his hands. "Rise!" Large pillars of water, thousands from everywhere, shot out from the ground and one of them shot out directly beneath Gamabunta. The large pillar of water made the giant frog look like a flea. The pillar ate Gamabunta and, with him, Naruto, his clones, and the giant Rasengans. The ground cracked some more, and more water pillars shot up. The water flooded the arid soil and, after only a minute, a great body of water appeared. The place became a sea, the plateaus and hills that were tall enough, its islands.

"Naruto…" Kushina was so worried for her son.

"This technique was only used by Tobirama once, when he had to annihilate an entire village of five thousand people. He was young then, only fourteen years old. Father had branded the village as savages, but he knew some of the people he had killed were innocent civilians. He couldn't complain. Since then he never used that technique again," explained Hashirama.

"It was also the reason Tobirama-sensei chose this place for the fight. It is below sea level. The water will accumulate and he can use it in his advantage."

"Let's stop the fight! Naruto is hurt! I'm sure of it!" Kushina demanded. "Hashirama-sama, please!"

"I told you, the only thing that will kill anyone of us here is if we deplete our chakra to nothing. Calm down, Kushina."

"Naruto has still a chance," Minato said. "Look. Tobirama-sama is nowhere to be seen. The technique used up almost all his chakra. He's hiding."

"Naruto should grab the chance quickly. He only needs three minutes to recover from the technique," Hashirama said.

"Tobirama-sensei is still scary," the Third said, stroking his goatee.

_To be continued…_


	25. Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25: A Fight Straight from the Heart

The waves crashed below the place where Hashirama and company were watching the fight. They could see land from so far a distance that what was in front of them was practically just sea. There were islands here and there, but the lower land structures had sunk under the water.

Naruto had flown away from Gamabunta when the strong surge of water hit them a moment ago. When Gamabunta felt that no one was riding his back, he grew worried. "Naruto! Naruto!" He looked around. That was when it occurred to him that Naruto must have fallen unconscious. Gamabunta dived into the water and searched for Naruto. He was right. Naruto was slowly sinking towards the bottom. He swam to him and pulled him into his mouth with his tongue. He then swam out of the water and laid Naruto on land. "Naruto! Can you hear me, Naruto?" Naruto stirred. Gamabunta felt relieved. He flicked Naruto's cheek, and, because he was a giant, of course, his force was too much. Naruto skidded away and hit a rise on the land.

Naruto jumped onto his feet with a throbbing cheek. "Are you trying to kill me?" he yelled.

"Good. I thought you died."

"Died my ass! That hurts!"

Gamabunta looked over his shoulder. "There's no time for arguments. Look."

Naruto was amazed with the scenery. "What the…why is there a sea? Did Tobirama-oji-chan teleport us to somewhere?"

"No. He made the sea."

"Ehhh?"

"Right now, he is resting because this technique uses a lot of chakra. Take your time to replenish yours. You've taken heavy damage from that attack."

"I think I'm fine. Why don't we look for him, instead? I can defeat him while he's charging up."

"I can't help you with that." Gamabunta looked at Naruto. "But you can try. Using your Sage Mode."

"Okay." Naruto closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened it, he was in Sage Mode, again. He spread his hands, palms down, and attempted to feel his surrounding, searching for a dubious spot.

"You don't need to do that," said a voice. It was Tobirama, arms crossed over his chest, standing on the back of a giant whale shark. "Let's resume, Naruto."

"Tobirama-jii-chan…"

"Naruto, he's with Kujiro, the boss of the fishes. He's no ordinary summon. He's like me, very picky with his master."

Naruto grinned, but a drop of sweat, which crawled down from his temple, contrasted his confidence. "I should give everything I've got."

"Good. Hop on." When Naruto was on his back, Gamabunta faced Tobirama. He paid more attention to Kujiro.

"Kujiro," Tobirama said.

"All right. Let's crush them." Kujiro began to move. His acceleration increased by the second. Soon he was fast enough to part the water with his dorsal fin as he sliced through. Tobirama lowered his stance to brace for balance.

"He's coming. Naruto, I'll spit oil at him. You lit it with fire," Gamabunta said.

"Okay."

Gamabunta formed hand seals, put a hand on his stomach, and spat out a ball of oil. Naruto lit the ball in perfect timing with a fire release technique. It flared up and cruised the air with a promise of serious damage. Gamabunta went on, spitting more oil out his mouth. Naruto lit them all. Soon, Gamabunta was sending tens of fire balls a second.

The first fire ball to come, Tobirama just parried aside. The ball erupted a few meters away, sending showers at them. The second, the third, the fourth came. Tobirama did the same. Water towers bloomed from the explosions of the fire balls. Gamabunta followed them wherever they went. The giant toad was like a warship with its unrelenting attack.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!" Fast projectiles shot out from the water surface, aiming for Gamabunta. They shot from everywhere that their tails formed a pyramid-like structure around the island where Naruto and the toad were.

"Hold on!" Gamabunta yelled. As the projectiles closed in, he leaped up towards the sky with his powerful legs. The projectiles hit each other and dispersed into drizzle. The momentum of the projectiles was so high that those projectiles which had reached the island destroyed it. The chunks of earth sunk down into the water.

Kujiro launched out of the water towards Gamabunta. Tobirama slid to the whale shark's tail and instructed it to swat him in the direction of the giant toad.

"Shit!" Gamabunta said.

Tobirama caught the fabric of Gamabunta's shirt and used it to throw himself towards Naruto. "Kujiro, take care of Gamabunta!"

Naruto was waiting for Tobirama. As the Second came with a propped knee, ready to hit him in the face, Naruto sent a powerful punch. Tobirama held his wrist and kicked him in the side of his cheek. Blood spurt out as Tobirama's wooden sandal made contact with his skin. He flew to the water. It was just fortunate that he hadn't fainted with the strength of the kick, for he managed to prevent himself from sinking. He stood up on the surface of water. From a distance, he could see Gamabunta battling with the whale shark Kujiro.

Tobirama and two of his clones skidded towards Naruto with alarming quickness. Naruto put his hands together at his right hip. The three Tobirama closed in. A ball of wind Rasengan formed on Naruto's palms, and the air around it swirled. "Sage Art: Super Wind Sphere Shockwave!" He thrust the wind sphere forward. It gushed out into a threatening tornado-like force, tapering outward to do maximum damage to its target. The high point of the technique, it was incredibly fast. It only consumed a split second to dig a trench on the water surface and reached the three Tobirama. The shockwave destroyed a nearby island.

Suddenly, Tobirama shot out of the water beneath Naruto. He attacked Naruto with a Taijutsu combination, lifting him up in air. For his last attack, Tobirama spun and sent a heel kick to Naruto's stomach. Naruto's limp body plummeted towards land. He lay there gaping, his vision blurry, and his breath short.

Tobirama didn't move from where he was, waiting for Naruto to get back on his feet.

"It might have been better if Naruto used a technique that didn't obstruct his view," the Third said. "Tobirama-sensei obviously wanted to get near."

"It's not that. Something is wrong with Naruto," Hashirama replied. "Look. Tobirama seems to notice it, too."

Naruto recovered his vision. He looked at Tobirama. _He's really something. Even though I'm in Sage Mode, he's inflicting damage on me as if my Sage Mode doesn't matter. If I get close, I'll get beaten up. I need to be careful._ He stood up and made fifteen Kage Bunshins.

Tobirama started to sprint over the water towards Naruto. Naruto ordered his clones to attack. In no time, Tobirama was surrounded by the clones. They attacked with Taijutsu and Rasengan. Skillfully, Tobirama clashed with them with his hands and feet. The clones were dispersing one by one.

Naruto's heart raced in nervousness. He formed another series of hand seals. "Earth Release: Earth Columns!" Cylindrical columns plunged out from the water one by one in a straight line towards Tobirama. The last column caught Tobirama and it took him up fifty feet from the water surface. "Earth Chain Capturing Technique!" Chains the color of the column appeared and bound Tobirama's hands and feet. Tobirama tried to escape, but the chains were tough. Since it was a capturing technique, he couldn't counter with Kawarimi, like for example, turning himself into water. "Attack him, now!" Naruto shouted. The three remaining clones crawled up the column.

Tobirama closed his eyes.

"My master is calling me," Kujiro said. "Bye for now, Gamabunta." The whale shark swam away.

"Kujiro! Shit!" Gamabunta tried to catch up, but Kujiro was fast.

One of the clones reached the top and was struggling to get on the platform. Suddenly, Kujiro leaped up from the water and crashed into the earth column, easily destroying it. The earth chains binding Tobirama were destroyed with the column. Tobirama used the falling chunk of earth to push himself on top of the next column, and then he used the other columns to close in to Naruto.

As Tobirama jumped off of the first column, Naruto made a circle around his mouth with his thumb and forefinger. "Fire Release: Great Fire Ball Technique!" He blew out a huge fireball at Tobirama. The lash of hot air destroyed the earth column behind.

"Water God Art: Fire Diffusion!" Tobirama sent a fist-sized water ball into the center of the fire ball, and, in the blink of an eye, the fire ball erupted into nothing. Naruto froze. Tobirama attacked with a Taijutsu combination Naruto couldn't defend against. For his finale, Tobirama sent a double fist in Naruto's chest. Naruto coughed up blood, sliding until a rise of earth stopped his motion.

Tobirama approached and stood beside Naruto. He cocked his hand up to his ear.

"Naruto!" Kushina shrieked. "Tobirama-sama…" Her hair rose behind her like the tails of the Demon Fox. Her eyes spoke of death. "Let me fight you, instead!"

Hashirama hooked an arm around Kushina's neck. "Calm down."

Tobirama's cocking of his arm was actually to grab Naruto and pull him up so that he was in a sitting position. Tobirama hunkered in front of Naruto.

"Can you hear me, kid?"

Naruto blinked his dizziness away.

"Naruto?"

Naruto pulled back, but the rise of earth prevented him from getting away. "Tobirama-jii-chan."

Tobirama pulled a long breath. "What are you doing?"

Naruto frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"I also prepared for this fight, you know." He looked at Naruto, and then stood up. "Is that all you got? You're facing a Kage, Naruto. Please don't forget that."

"I know that, Tobirama-jii-chan."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

Naruto stood up, now, puzzled with the conversation. "I don't understand you."

Tobirama glanced at Naruto. "Did you train for this?"

"Of course. I sweated blood to be stronger for this day."

"It might have been better if you had not."

Naruto looked at Tobirama.

"I've been using my strongest techniques. Can you see this sea? How about you? You've been using A-Rank techniques, all right, but how many techniques of your nature affinity have you used? One. Honestly, Naruto, I'm disappointed in you. This is not what I've expected. Hiruzen told me that you were a reckless and aggressive fighter. Earlier, you showed promise, but as the fight progressed you stayed irritatingly passive. What are you afraid of? Why can't you enjoy our fight?"

"Enjoy?"

"Effective fighters don't win their fights by strength alone. They win because they employ their techniques in the manner they are comfortable with. That way they are able to stay calm and have some sort of fun. You're depending too much on your strong techniques, waiting for me to make a mistake by attacking from a distance. I'm an experienced fighter. I seldom make mistakes, and, if I do, they are of minor importance. If you don't fight from the heart, you're certainly bound to lose."

"Fight from the heart." Naruto closed his eyes and absorbed what Tobirama had said. Tobirama was right. He had been waiting, just waiting. He had been afraid to lose. He inhaled a lungful and exhaled. "I'm sorry." He stood up, and, when he opened his eyes, he felt his fear disappear. He took a red band from his shirt. His mother had made it for him, but he had been embarrassed to wear it. Kushina had embroidered "The Strongest Hokage of All Time Uzumaki Naruto!" on the red band. Naruto wore it around his forehead. He grinned. "I'll defeat you, oji-chan."

Tobirama looked Naruto in the eyes and grinned back. "That's it, Naruto." He dispersed into smoke. He was on an island. Naruto had been looking at him and not at his clone.

Seeing her son wear the band she had made for him, Kushina almost cried in joy. Her doubts disappeared. She thrust her fists up in the air—hitting Hashirama in the process (umph!)—and yelled, "Go, Naruto! You can do it!"

Naruto lowered his stance and charged up. Blue chakra enveloped his body as if it was burning him. Ripples materialized around the island where he was.

Hashirama and company had to cover their faces against the wind.

"Now you'll see how strong Naruto has become," Minato said.

Naruto disappeared. They could only hear the zoom and see how the water parted as he passed over it.

Tobirama formed seals. "Water God Art: Tidal Requiem!" The water in front of him rose until it became a giant tsunami.

Naruto did hand seals, and then jumped up. The tsunami hit nothing but its own. Naruto used the gravitational pull to reinforce the impact of his attack. He attempted to stamp a foot on Tobirama, but Tobirama quickly dodged. He chased after Tobirama. A high-level Taijutsu battle ensued over the water. Eruptions there and here. Hashirama and company should maintain focus or else they would lose sight of the two. Naruto and Tobirama were moving in blinding speed.

"I didn't expect Naruto to be this proficient in Taijutsu," the Third said.

"I've been his sparring partner, Sarutobi-sensei," Minato said. "He's used to enemies at high speed."

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto created two shadow clones. The two shadow clones held his ankles, whirled him around, and hurled him towards Tobirama.

"Water Release: Water Wall!" A cubic wall made of water emerged from the surface. It tried to block Naruto, but Naruto had a Wind Rasengan in hand. When it hit the water wall, it bored a large hole through it. Naruto managed to reach Tobirama, successfully hitting him with a kick in the face. Naruto grabbed the chance and attacked Tobirama with a combination. For his coup de grace, he hit Tobirama with his Rasengan. Tobirama hit land, but, suddenly, he dispersed into water. Naruto looked around. He was breathing through his mouth, already.

By turning into water, Tobirama hid himself from Naruto. _His speed increased and he hasn't been hesitating a bit. And I'm already a little out of breath. The first two Water God Art techniques consumed a lot of my chakra. I need to rest for a bit. _He chuckled. _I wonder if waking him up was a good decision. It's as if I asked for my defeat._ _Well, I really need to rest first._

Naruto closed his eyes and felt his surroundings. In less than two seconds, he spotted Tobirama.

Tobirama smiled. _Guess not._ He sighed and showed himself. "Impressive attack, Naruto. That's what I'm expecting from you."

"It was all because of you, oji-chan. Thank you."

"Let's finish this."

Naruto nodded. "Let's do it." He dashed forward in high speed, yelling.

Tobirama formed hand seals and, when Naruto was near, unleashed, "Water God Art: Dance of the Nine Water Dragon Gods!" _This will be my last technique, Naruto. Be sure to defeat it._ Tobirama coughed up blood. Nine giant water dragons emerged behind Tobirama.

"My. Tobirama finally uses his ace," Hashirama said.

Kushina blanched. "Naruto! Run away!"

But there was no place to go. If measured, the dragons would be a lot bigger compared to Tobirama's Tidal Requiem a while ago.

Naruto knew this and formed his seals. A clone appeared in front of him, caught his ankle, and hurled him up to the sky. Naruto continued forming seals as he soared.

Tobirama, using his hands, controlled the dragons and made them chase after Naruto. The dragons, hungry for first blood, tore the winds for Naruto.

Finally, Naruto showed up, holding a huge spiralling wind sphere over his head with two outstretched arms. The dragons were just feet away. He looked down, and, pulling with what it seemed to be great difficulty, hurled the wind sphere down. "Sage Art: Ultimate Rasengan!"

"He completed it," Minato said with admiration to his son. "He completed the Rasengan! My son completed it!"

The huge Rasengan sucked the air and the people watching felt that they were being pulled to it.

"Hold on," Hashirama ordered.

Tobirama watched as the giant Rasengan sucked his dragons. He smiled in acceptance. "I lost. I can't move anymore. Damn it."

"This is bad," Minato said. "Tobirama-sensei can't move anymore."

"What? The potential damage of that attack will render Tobirama incapable of continuing his existence inside the barrier," Hashirama said.

"Wait here," Minato said. It had been a right decision for him to stick a teleportation tag on both the fighters back.

The ball gained more winds and began to form a tornado, sucking in the water, too. Naruto let himself plummet down, unable to move himself. It was only fortunate that the whale shark Kujiro disappeared because of Tobirama's inability to maintain its existence. Gamabunta was able to come to Naruto's rescue. He bound Naruto with his tongue, put him inside his mouth, and swam away as fast as he could. Meanwhile, Minato appeared on time to take Tobirama away to safety.

The ball hit and blew off the water until the bottom showed. Waves originated from the impact. The wind that resulted from the wind sphere was so sharp that it cut any solid fifty meters away from it. Its suction, on the other hand, created a tornado. Hashirama had to reinforce Hiruzen's earth wall with his trees to protect themselves from the tails of the attack. In his opinion, Naruto's Ultimate Rasengan was an S-Rank technique basing on the damage it could cause, on par with Tobirama's Origin of the Sea and his own Birth of a Dense Woodland. A smile played on his lips.

…

"Naruto! Naruto, wake up!" Gamabunta said.

Minato appeared by his side, carrying Tobirama on his shoulder.

Tobirama raised his head weakly. "Naruto still needs to learn how not to exceed the required energy needed for a technique. Look at him. You can see the ground through his body. He almost depleted all his chakra."

"Stop talking, Tobirama-sama. You should rest."

Tobirama chuckled, and, before he slept, he said, "He utterly beat me, your son. He's very good."

"Is he going to be okay?" Gamabunta asked.

Minato smiled. "Don't worry about it. He just needs to rest."

"I can't stay any longer. Remind him of his promise," Gamabunta said, and disappeared.

…

Naruto opened his eyes, rolling them around to take in the surrounding. He spotted his mother, knitting on a rocking chair beside his bed. "Mom…?"

Kushina stared at him and smiled. "Hi, honey. How's your sleep?"

"The fight. Did I win?"

Kushina reached out and cupped his face, rubbing his skin with her thumb. "Yes, Naruto. You won."

"How's Tobirama-oji-chan?"

"He's okay."

Naruto smiled. "I'm glad." His eyes closed and he returned to sleep.

_To be continued…_


	26. Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26: Surf's Up!

His fight with Tobirama was like opening the chastity belt of the virgin queen, taking off the barrier to finally see the pleasures and delights beneath. Hashirama praised him and scolded him at the same time. Praised him because he had executed a lot of high-level techniques almost perfectly, which was normal because there was no perfect way of executing any, and scolded him because when it came to being serious, he had been too serious to kill. Hashirama understood that it could have been because of the vibrations that had rippled through his chakra after the tightness brought about by fear had disappeared. The bad thing was Naruto had been unconscious of the change and, as a result, he had almost pulverized Tobirama. Naruto apologized.

For the next seven months, Naruto's sensei was Hiruzen Sarutobi. He spent six days every week—one day of rest—with the Third. The Third focused on the basics again. He said once to Naruto, "Often, fighters—not only shinobis—develop this disappointing habit of always looking up. Don't be like them. The basic techniques are your hips and the main seat of your balance. It should be the center of your development and must always surface when you fight."

Hiruzen shared his knowledge about technique initiation. A technique can be executed even if you only trigger it with one hand seal, he said. But it is only possible if the technique is under your chakra nature or you have a mastery over a specific technique. Also, a quickly initiated technique is not as strong as when it has been triggered with the required set of hand seals. The strength decreases by fifty percent.

Hiruzen refreshed Naruto on elementary techniques and found out that Naruto was ignoring many low level techniques taught in the academy. In a little spar, the old man realized that Naruto even avoided using Kawarimi or Replacement Technique. Naruto apologized. After two weeks, thirteen days to be exact, in another spar, Naruto defeated Hiruzen with Sexy no Jutsu—a Class D technique. It was actually bellow the belt, but it satisfied the old man.

The days passed by.

…

Naruto didn't rest on his rest days. Instead, he went alone in the woods to search for a balsa tree. He knew that balsa wood produced good surfboards.

He had noticed it in his fight with Tobirama. Tobirama had been able to ride his waves without exerting too much chakra. Naruto had thought then that he could do that, too, with his own wind. Of course, it seemed impossible. Wind is looser, much more unpredictable than water. He had tried it out one day, but he had not been able to ride on his wind. (The wind decreased the speed of his downward plunge, but what he wanted was to stay airborne. He was not able to do that.) Wind moves all the time and doesn't stay in one place. He felt it under his soles one second, and then the next second it was gone. He needed to call on the wind again to stay in the air. It was distracting to do it every time. And sometimes he was already too near the ground before a wind came to his rescue.

Sometime later, he found out that wind was an eager friend, always ready for him as best as it could. The only thing that bothered him was its restlessness. In a way it was like him for being so full of energy and having a whimsical pattern. It annoyed him, and he thought that he might have been that annoying when he was kid.

There should be something, he told himself, something that could break that wild, invisible stallion so he could finally ride on it. He went to Tobirama and asked him how he managed to make the surface of water a playground for his feet. Tobirama was surprised that he wanted to know. Tobirama said, "It's my wooden sandals." Two seconds and the answer occurred to him. Tobirama had always injected his sandals with chakra.

Tobirama's wooden sandals were enough because it was water he had to ride on. However, his was air. He had to find something wider, something that could call onto the molecules of the element, but at the same time, could keep him in air a while longer than the small area of his soles could do. Thus, he came up with a surfboard. By making his chakra flow into the surfboard with the intention of producing wind, he might be able to do it, to fly.

Why pursue flying? There were many advantages. Naruto knew it. He also had that itch in his belly that if he had been skillful enough to ride the wind at an earlier time, he could have prevented what had happened in the Konoha Falls. He could have saved Sasuke. Now that he had the opportunity finally to have wings, he would never stop until he learned how to spread them.

"I've been following you."

Naruto froze and turned his head to the origin of the voice. "Hashirama-sensei."

"You've been looking at the trees. What are you looking for?"

"Balsa wood."

"Balsa wood? What will you do with it?"

Naruto smiled. "It's a secret, sensei. You will eventually know, but, for now, I want to keep it to myself."

Hashirama touched his chin and observed Naruto. "This is very intriguing. Don't tell me you're planning to cut yourself a surfboard."

"How did you know that?"

"When I was still a kid the elders in my clan used to honor the spirits of the lake by praying on surfboards. But I think, in my time, they were called floaters. Anyway, they used balsa wood to make the surfboards. It is lightweight and easily floats."

"I guess I can't keep it from you. Yes, I'm planning to make a surfboard."

Hashirama stared into Naruto, and then grinned. "I'll help you, then."

…

The two halves of balsa wood—split horizontally—rested on two cradles made from sawhorses inside a barn. The light came in through the large window hip-high from the floor. Naruto was staring at them while he rotated in his hand a sharp seashell. The right half of the balsa wood had been drawn with the outline of a surfboard. Tobirama had drawn it using charcoal.

Naruto let out a long breath and approached the right half. He caressed the surface with his fingers. It was all thanks to Hashirama. Hashirama had told Tobirama about Naruto's plan of making a surfboard. Tobirama had been eager to help. He had been a surfer when he was young, and he liked _dudes_ who shared the same interest as him. "Take it slow, Naruto," Tobirama had said. "The board is already in there. Let the grains guide you. Let the grains take your hands. Feel your way with patience and gentleness, so the surfboard you will have created is one damn surfboard that can take you up the most dangerous waves on earth." Of course, Tobirama didn't know that Naruto planned to ride the waves existing in the space between the sky and the earth.

Naruto went to work and he was amazed at how the slow movements of his excavation made him so engrossed he didn't see the sky changing from blue to orange, to purple, and then to black. He could only watch with keen fascination how the wood shavings curled up against the concave of his shell, curling up until it became a spiral. He wondered if the curls' similarity to the Hakke Fuin seal, to the symbol of the Uzumaki clan, or to the very life he had had riveted his attention to it. Nevertheless, he couldn't deny he got addicted. He had even begun muttering, "Long and slow, long and slow," over and over again, as if a chant, after he had made the first four strokes over the wood's surface.

He would not have stopped if he didn't feel the dryness of his mouth and throat. When he looked up he noticed that the light became delicate and realized that it was now the moon—the five moons—which provided it.

He put down the seashell on the surface of the wood. The surfboard was already beginning to take on a shape, but it was still too chubby. He had to work on it a little longer.

His stomach suddenly growled. He remembered the bento his mom had made for him. Hastily, he went to it and ate its contents. He didn't want his mother upset over a bento he had forgotten to touch.

…

After three days, Naruto went with Tobirama to the barn. The surfboard was complete, looking as it should be—its lines were smooth; it looked reliable. Tobirama smiled at Naruto. He leaped onto the surfboard, to Naruto's horror, and bounced on it. Naruto could only gape, face as white as paper. When Tobirama saw him, he laughed and said, "You've done it, Naruto. I've never seen quite a surfboard like this for a very long time."

"Stop it, oji-chan!"

Tobirama laughed so hard Naruto forgot his fear for his surfboard and instead became fearful that Tobirama might throw up his guts.

The next Sunday, Tobirama took him to a lake near the edge of Hashirama's world. The blade of the waves caught and hurled back the light of the sun, making sparkles here and there.

"This is where you will learn surfing," Tobirama said.

…

Naruto thought it was easy, but learning how to balance on the surfboard was already hard enough. It was just fortunate for him that he had trained for flawless balance back in Myobukuzan, so he was not really a novice when it came to the basics. When he realized that it would take time to learn surfing, he requested Hiruzen to give him even the Saturdays. He didn't tell the old man what he would do of the time, but he assured him that he was not going to spend it on nothing. Hiruzen agreed.

Tobirama was a strict teacher. He pushed Naruto to the limit most of the time. If they were in the real world, his true body would have already collapsed because of over fatigue. "Befriend the wave! Don't fight it! Go with the flow! It has lines, Naruto! Find the lines and ride accordingly!" Tobirama was like a cheap cockatoo with his repetitions. Over and over, he yelled this into the air, intensely hoping that Naruto would understand what he was trying to tell.

After seven weeks, Naruto finally learned the art of surfing. Tobirama asked for him the day that he had appointed for Naruto's graduation.

"Are you ready for your final test?" Tobirama asked. He had his own surfboard, now, which he had made from the other half of the balsa wood Hashirama had given Naruto.

"I am, sensei," Naruto said.

"Okay." Tobirama made hand seals. He clasped his hands in front of him and called out: "Earth Release: Rock Tower!" In the middle of the lake, a tall rock tower tapering into a point grew up from the water. "This is how it's gonna be." He produced two flags from his coat. He gave one to Naruto. "We'll race. The first one to put a flag on top of the tower wins."

"Okay."

"Ani-ue will assist us on this."

Hashirama jumped down from a branch of a tree. He had an acorn in his hand. "Hi! I've been watching you. Quite a show you've been doing for me, to tell you the truth."

Naruto blushed. "Was I that bad?"

"No. But when you did a stunt that failed, with that serious face of yours, I couldn't stop myself from laughing." He laughed as he remembered one of Naruto's funny moments.

"Since Ani-ue was the creator of this world, he can create a stronger nature disturbance than I," Tobirama said.

"Nature disturbance?" Naruto asked. "You mean like earthquake? Are you telling me that we're about to ride on a tsunami?"

"An earthquake can only create a single wave. Ani-ue will make us a typhoon."

Hashirama grinned, crushing the acorn in his hand at the same time. "This will be very interesting."

Naruto blanched.

Tobirama and Naruto swam to the center of the lake. Once there Tobirama raised his hand to tell Hashirama that they were ready. Hashirama sat on the beach and crossed his legs so that his feet rested on his thighs. He put his hands together as if to pray and closed his eyes.

"What is he doing?" Naruto asked.

"Close your mouth," Tobirama said. "You'll bite your tongue."

The moist wind was the first to come. Then it became hot. The wind was coming in to where they were. Clouds began to form overhead, thick black clouds.

"It's coming," Tobirama said. "Remember Naruto. No ninja techniques."

"Yes."

Hashirama opened his eyes. His irises had disappeared. His skin had become red and veins throbbed beneath it.

The clouds swirled and it began to rain. Naruto felt the big drops pecking at his skin. Then came the waves. Tobirama was smiling.

"I miss this thrill!" Tobirama yelled. When a wave swelled beneath him, he stood up and began to ride. "Naruto! Let's go!"

Naruto waited for a wave and rode down, keeping his feet pressed down against the upward rush of the water. He spread his arms to keep his balance. Naruto saw how dark the surrounding had become. The waves were like gaping giant monsters having a race on their own to eat them two surfers. Nevertheless, Tobirama was enjoying himself. Skillfully, he transferred from one wave to another. His wave riding was beautiful to Naruto's eyes. He made it look so easy. Naruto felt a certain jealousy for Tobirama, for he had had to see death twice before being able to see the lines in the water.

Naruto shook his head. He should not be concerning himself with unimportant things. The rock tower stood there, being hit relentlessly by the water. He just had to put his flag on it and he would win. He leaped up to another wave, but, as he was descending onto it, Tobirama suddenly appeared beside him and pushed him aside. Naruto struggled for balance. All he saw of Tobirama was that smile of challenge on his face. Fortunately, there were plenty of waves around. Naruto crouched low and accepted the belly of one.

Naruto saw Tobirama skidding his way towards the rock tower. His eyes widened and his heart raced, doing big leaps inside his chest. He frantically looked around for some swell. When he found one rushing towards the tower, he jumped and did a three-sixty-degree rotation in the air. It could only be a perfect score in an official competition, for Naruto didn't lose composure as his surfboard perched on his target wave. He managed to circle in front of Tobirama. Using his right hand, he splashed water at Tobirama's face. Tobirama was momentarily blinded, but this was already enough for Naruto to transfer to a wave and get the lead.

"You're a hundred years too young, kid," Tobirama said. He glided horizontally on a wave and caught up to Naruto. "Yo!"

Naruto gaped as Tobirama descended the wave towards him. He steered to his left to avoid Tobirama. Tobirama was now serious on pushing Naruto off his surfboard. He followed Naruto, forgetting about the rock tower and shifting all his attention to his opponent.

They zigzagged across the waves, no one permitting his opponent to reach even fifty meters from the tower, both skillful and equally graceful over the mavericks of the water. Now that he noticed that Naruto was really good, he went from kicking him off from his surfboard to snatching his flag. Of course, Naruto had been coming up with clever counter-maneuvers every time.

On the beach, Minato, Hiruzen, and Kushina were enjoying the show, eating fried acorns on a white porcelain plate.

Tobirama was observing Naruto's movements. Even though they were as small as an ant against a human palm, Tobirama was impressed with Naruto's skillful utilizations of the pattern of lines the waves possessed. It was like Naruto could see them clearly, as if the waves were all lines. Tobirama came up with a decision. He lagged and eventually made a patch of water peaceful for him to stand on. He picked his surfboard up.

"I can't teach anything to you anymore, Naruto," he said. "You pass."

Naruto rode on. "I pass?"

"Yes. Just put the flag on the tower." He made a single hand seal. "Water God Art: Swirling Water Towers!" The clouds funneled down and the waters rose up to meet them. Upon their meeting, water tornadoes were formed.

Naruto reached in his jacket and pulled out his flag. The red flag flapped in the gust of wind produced by the typhoon and the tornadoes. He looked at Tobirama and Tobirama nodded at him.

"Here goes nothing," Naruto said. He rode on a swell and surfed up towards the tower. His feat of dodging and finding the freeways in between water and wind was not short of miraculous. Even Tobirama, who had never been defeated in surfing tricks before, admired his student.

Now Naruto was having fun, enjoying his intimate dance with the waves. Every time he leaped off to another wave, he would make a trick that made his audience cheer in delight and Tobirama grin with pride. He timed the wave near the water tornadoes and sliced sideways to avoid the fast spinning wind. He did it so expertly he looked like a champion surfer.

Now the last tornado loomed in front of him. He chose a swell, leaped, and spun until the underbelly of his surfboard touched the water. The wave surged with full force towards the tornado. Naruto tapped his right foot and did an aerial as another wave grew beside him. He leaned to his left, turned, and jumped onto the new wave. However, he didn't stay for too long on the wave. He leaped again, now towards the tornado that he should be avoiding. The spinning water caught the side of his surfboard and hurled him up in the direction of the rock tower. With confidence, he made a side flip, timely ending it with him stabbing the top of the rock tower with his flag.

A wave caught him and sent him off to the beach. He was surprised to see his mother red-faced and crying, his father proud, and his Sarutobi-sensei glazed-eyed. A little beyond the three, Hashirama stood up and brushed the sand off his butt. The typhoon ceased and the sky cleared. Tobirama walked with his surfboard under his arm.

"Good job," Tobirama said.

"Wow, I didn't know you wanted to be a surfer, Naruto!" Kushina said.

Hashirama and Tobirama exchanged a knowing smile. Minato caught this. Hiruzen blew out smoke.

"I…" Naruto looked at Hashirama and Tobirama. Then he looked back at his mom. "Yes, Mom. Just for relaxation."

"You were great! I'm proud of you, son!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Thanks, Mom."

"Tobirama, Minato, Hiruzen, and Kushina, I want to talk with you," Hashirama said.

"Naruto, I'm giving you a week off from training," Hiruzen said. He was smiling at Hashirama. "Do what you have to do."

Naruto beamed. "Wow! That's great, oji-chan! Thank you!"

Hiruzen smiled at Naruto. "Good luck."

…

Hashirama conducted the meeting inside the Senju Hall. Kushina brought them snacks and tea, then she took her seat beside Minato.

Hashirama sipped some tea. "For his last pre-fight opponent, I elect Hiruzen."

Minato perked up. "Hashirama-sensei, please, let me be my son's last opponent."

"You cannot, Minato. You're too much for him."

"Too much? Sarutobi-sensei is worse. He's not called the God of Shinobi for nothing."

"But most of your primary techniques are for assassination. Naruto is very strong now, I know that, but your vast experience in battle is just too much for the kid. At least, Hiruzen has a myriad of techniques for a one-on-one fight."

Minato's voice softened. "I have, too. And Sarutobi-sensei is far more experienced than I am."

Hashirama's lips curled up. "You'll be greatly disadvantaged if you opt not to use your primary techniques. It won't be an equal match. I'm very sorry. Besides, being a father, you'll never bring yourself to kill your own son, and your son to kill you."

"Is it really necessary?"

"You know that it is."

Minato sighed. He drank from his cup of tea. "All right. If it's for the best, then I'm all right with it."

"I think you already noticed what Naruto has been doing these past weeks." The four nodded. "Naruto has just completed the first stage. Kushina."

"Yes."

"It's now your time to teach your son."

"I understand."

"I'll give you five months. Afterwards, he'll fight with Hiruzen. Another tuning from Minato, and then he'll be fighting his giant self. Questions?" There was none. Hashirama stood up. "I think, with his rate of progress, Naruto will attain Shihai earlier than expected. Dismissed."

…

Naruto discovered that floating with the surfboard was an easy task. At first try, he had succeeded in floating beyond the tip of the highest tree in the forest. The only problem was he didn't know how to move from his spot. In the next days, he tried different methods to do it. There was one where he ran off a cliff. He would fly for a while but then he would eventually and inevitably descend to the ground. He didn't know why he couldn't maintain altitude. Another was by seeking assistance from Gamabunta. He would ask Gamabunta to throw him as far as the toad could, and then he would use the inertia to gather wind. But this method also failed. However much he tried, he couldn't understand why he couldn't stay in air for too long whenever he attempted to move. If this went on, he thought, being even a champ surfer would do no good.

One day as he brooded over what to do beside a tree, clutching his surfboard across his lap, he saw his mom come out from the trees. What surprised him was Kushina's clothing. She was in her ANBU gear, vest, black pants, and all.

Naruto stood up. "Mom!"

"Hi, there, Naruto!"

Naruto ran up to her and kissed her on the cheek. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'll be your next sensei!"

Naruto flinched.

"What? Do you think I don't have anything to teach you?"

"But, Mom, I'm on vacation, remember? I'm excited to be your student, really, but could you give me this week? I'll be ready for you next week. Please, Mom."

"No. I want to start today."

"But, Mom…"

"Aren't you having trouble flying?"

Naruto gaped. "How do you know that?"

"We know about what you've been trying to pull. Right now, the only person that can help you with it is me."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a chakra shape-shifting specialist, Naruto. Did you know that I was the co-creator of Rasengan?" Kushina felt pleased with how Naruto received the information. "I did not only teach your father sealing techniques, I also helped him master chakra shape-shifting. Without me, he would not have been able to create Rasengan."

"You mean you can also use Rasengan?"

"Anyone who knows the basic concepts of the technique can." Kushina formed a Rasengan with one hand. "See?"

Naruto remembered how Zuko had formed a Rasengan despite only seeing it once.

Kushina undid the Rasengan and said, "You will never be able to use your wind to fly if you can't change its shape at your will. What you only know right now is how to change the nature of your chakra into wind. What I'll teach you is how to change the shape of your nature-changed chakra into whatever shape you like. For instance, you'll learn from me how to make waves from your wind. After I'm through with you…" Kushina aimed her palm at a tree. A chain of chakra went out her palm and impaled the tree's trunk. "Doing this will be a bunny's tooth."

…

Kakashi walked out from the Hokage's office. As he was closing the door, he saw Paku waiting for him. He cocked an eyebrow. "Why are you still here? The mission is finished. You can go back, now."

The little pug lingered. "Kakashi, I want to talk with you."

"Something came up?"

"I want to talk to you in private, if that's possible."

"All right. Come on." Kakashi took Paku to his apartment. Before closing the door, he checked if someone was nearby. "What do you want to tell me?"

Paku hesitated. "I don't know if you will believe me. Kakashi…" he gulped, "Kakashi, I saw Naruto in my world."

Kakashi frowned.

"You see, the wolves brought a stranger to the Village of Dogs. I can't be mistaken. Kakashi, I felt the Demon Fox from that stranger. I could only see a small resemblance in his and Naruto's features, but I know what I felt. There is only one Demon Fox in the world. Another thing, the wolves didn't tell me anything about the stranger. When I asked them if the stranger's name was Naruto, they seemed desperate to change the subject. Kakashi, I know that it was Naruto. You should come and see for yourself." Kakashi was looking at the ceiling. Paku sighed. "Just as I thought. I knew you would not believe me."

"Quite the contrary. Pakkun asked me for a summon slip. I didn't know where he would use it, but now I understand." He looked at Paku. "Go back and gather information. I'll request for permission to exhume whoever it is in Naruto's grave."

Paku brightened, his small tail wagging. "Thank you for believing in me."

"I'll summon you after a few days."

"Okay." Paku disappeared into smoke.

Kakashi pulled down his mask and sat on his bed. He let out a shaking breath. "I knew it," he muttered.

_To be continued…_


	27. Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27: Good News

Kakashi considered what to do. Paku was not a liar and a very loyal friend. Paku would never joke about important matters like Naruto being alive somewhere. The small pug knew that he would not appreciate something like that. It would even result to him renouncing Paku as his summon.

He got up from bed and washed his face at the sink. _The best thing to do is to make sure that whoever is buried in there isn't Naruto,_ he said to himself. He put on his mask. _I better talk with Master Tsunade._

In the office, Tsunade was busy signing a pile of documents. Kakashi knew that she hadn't been sleeping well these past weeks. Her blond hair was not tied like usual. If not for the haggard look on her face, Kakashi would have appreciated her new look.

"What do you need?" Tsunade said without looking up.

"I need your full attention, Master Tsunade."

"Don't you see that I'm busy?"

"I can see that."

Tsunade stopped in the middle of signing a land grant. She finally looked up. Kakashi saw the black bags beneath her eyes. "What it is that you want?"

Kakashi didn't linger. "I want you to sign me an exhumation request."

"An exhumation request?"

"I want to exhume Naruto's body."

Tsunade broke her pen in two. "What did you say?" Her frown was terrible to look at.

"I want to make sure that it was really Naruto."

"Stop with the bullshit, Kakashi. We all saw him as he was being lowered in the ground."

"Nobody suspected anything. Nobody thought that it could have been just a technique the enemy had used to confuse us. Everyone was so devastated to think of anything else and I can understand that. Master Tsunade, I just need to confirm that it was him. Everything will be by the book. I'll make sure that his body is not treated with disrespect."

Tsunade's eyes welled up. "You didn't ask this at an earlier time."

Kakashi just stared at her.

"Kakashi, tell me what you know. Please."

Kakashi told her what he and Paku had talked about. Once he finished, Tsunade stood up and went to Kakashi. She collared him.

"Is this true? Kakashi, tell me that you're not just making this up."

"I'm not, Master Tsunade. It's unbelievable, I know, but we can find out the truth if we investigate the matter."

Tsunade turned her back on Kakashi and wiped her tears.

"Master Tsunade, we need to keep this a secret. We are still not sure. Also, there are a lot of spies in Konoha. If they knew about this, they might hunt Naruto down."

"Yes, I understand that."

"And about the exhumation request?"

"We'll go to that. First, we need to assemble an investigative team." Tsunade wrote down names in a piece of paper and gave it to Kakashi. "Meet me this evening at my house."

Kakashi looked at the paper, nodded, and disappeared into smoke.

…

The names on the list Master Tsunade had given him were also the names that he would have recommended to her. That night, as clouds sailed across the deeply purple night sky, the ten other shinobis stood in front of Godaime's house with Kakashi. They were Gai, Rock Lee, the HS3 Hyuuga Neji, Hyuuga Hinata, and Hyuuga Aika, the ITST Inuzuka Kiba and Katsuo, Sai, Yamamoto, and Akamichi Chouji. All knew Naruto and respected him with their hearts. No one would ever think of selling him to the enemy, the most important criteria Tsunade was looking for. Kakashi knocked at the door.

"What is this about, Kakashi?" Yamamoto asked. "Why are we at Tsunade-sama's residence?"

"You'll know."

Shizune opened the door for them. Her eyes were swollen.

Rock Lee noticed this and blurted out, "Don't tell me Master Tsunade…"

Gai hit Lee's head. "Don't ever think of that!"

"But…" Lee looked at Gai with tears flowing out his round eyes. "Gai-sensei…"

"Lee…"

"Don't get any ideas, you two," Kakashi said. "Is she there, Shizune?"

"She's been waiting for you. Come in."

Shizune led them to a large room. There was a low table near a wall. Its size and position clearly told that it was for Tsunade. In front of the table were pillows for them to sit on and accompanying low tables for elbows and hands to rest on if feeling bored or sleepy or for papers if very important details were needed to be referred to over and over again. Kakashi thought that this night the tables were just there so that the pillows wouldn't look bare. The team sat themselves as Shizune went to fetch Tsunade.

They stood up when Tsunade entered and went to sit at her table. "Sit down."

Shizune went out to fetch some tea and snacks.

"Were you followed?" Tsunade asked.

"Akamaru is outside. He didn't detect anyone on our way here," Kiba said. "I'm positive no one has followed us."

"I've set ink traps around the perimeter, Tsunade-sama," Sai said. "Security is impeccable. Katsuo-san also did the same."

"Good. I chose my house to make sure that no one other than us would know what we would discuss here. We will begin when Shizune arrives."

Shizune went in with her two shadow clones and served them tea. She sat beside Tsunade when she finished.

Tsunade cleared her throat and smiled. "Everyone will be happy about this." Instead of smiles, she got frowns back. "Kakashi, would you start the discussion?"

Kakashi made a series of seals and summoned Paku. Paku looked confused. "Kakashi, what is this?"

"The people around you are members of the team Master Tsunade has formed to investigate the information you gave me. Tell them, Paku."

"I thought you wanted me to gather information first."

"We will gather information together."

Paku looked around and gulped. Every eye was staring intently at him. He cleared his throat and told them what he had told Kakashi. Every sentence that came out his mouth pushed his audience's eyes a millimeter wider, gapes a millimeter bigger, and complexions a shade lighter. When he finished the girls' cheeks were shining with tears and the boys were grinning.

Rock Lee stood up with flaming eyes. "I knew it! Youth power! Whoa! Naruto is alive!"

"We are not sure, yet," Kakashi said. "We need to exhume the body in Naruto's grave, do some tests on it, and determine who it really belonged to."

"Summon aniki, Kakashi," Paku said. "He knows more."

Kakashi looked around and all he got was stares compelling him to do what the small dog had suggested. He nodded at Paku and summoned Pakkun.

Like Paku, despite his usually "go to hell" disposition, Pakkun looked confused, appearing before an assembly of important looking shinobis.

"Whoa," Pakkun said in his deep voice. "Did I do something wrong? You people look like you want to eat me."

"Aniki, I told them about Naruto. It's your turn to tell them what you know."

Pakkun blinked and stayed quiet for a while. Then he sighed and produced the summoning slip Kakashi had given him. "Then I won't need this anymore." He put the paper on the floor and spat on it. The paper burst into flames until it disappeared without any trace that once it had existed. "You can kill me if what you find out is the contrast of what I'm about to say. Naruto is being kept right now in the Holy Cave in our village. He's alive, but is in a deep slumber. I don't know what happened to him, but he doesn't have the whisker marks on his face and his hair is black. I was doing an investigation on him and was planning to tell you about it after I assured myself that the boy in the cave was indeed Naruto. But the boy's smell and the smell of the chakra inside him are undeniably Naruto's. From what I've gathered so far, a powerful wolf named Kinjo had brought him in our village. Baba doesn't want to talk so that's what I can only tell."

"Kinjo told me that the boy was a mercenary working under Lotus, and his name was Asahi," Paku added. "I knew that he was not telling the truth. He was desperately avoiding the topic."

"Can't you go to the Village of Dogs, Kakashi, to confirm this?" Yamamoto said.

"He can," Pakkun said, "but he won't be able to enter the Holy Cave. It's better to wait until the kid gets released from there."

"Released? Is Naruto-onii-chan imprisoned?" Aika asked.

"Not in a bad way. Usually the Holy Cave is used for rituals. Baba assured me that nothing bad will happen to him."

"Okay, I heard enough," Tsunade said. "All we need to do now is to determine whom the body that we buried belonged to. Shizune and I will do the tests to determine who it really was. Neji, Aika, Lee, and Chouji, you will be one team. Gai, you will lead them. You're Team Frontier. Sai, Kiba, Katsuo, and Yamamoto, you will be another team. Kakashi, you will lead them. You're Team Survivor. Both of you will embark for a mission in Sanmyaku."

"Sanmyaku?" Neji asked. "Why there?"

"I've heard about this Lotus guy. He is a legendary ninja in Sanmyaku who prevented a war between two great Kingdoms there, Kogiwara and Nue. There is only a handful who knows of the name so I'm sure."

"What if this wolf Kinjo was just making that up?" Kiba said. "How do we know that he just didn't hear of the name and used it to misdirect us?"

"Kinjo won't make up stories," Paku said. "I know him. I know that he was just following instructions."

"My point, exactly. What if his instruction was to lie to hide Naruto's true identity? We might find ourselves searching for Naruto in the wrong place."

Paku had no reply for that.

"Kakashi, I learned of a girl doing Sage training in our village. I'm sure she knows something about the kid. You can ask her, or better, you can ask Kinjo directly," Pakkun said. "You know how we treat summoners in our village. If he refuses to admit that the boy is Naruto, you can ask about Lotus from him."

"How about if I go, too?" Tsunade said. Everyone looked at her with a shocked expression, except for Pakkun.

"If you use your privilege as a Kage, Baba will let you in the cave, Tsunade-sama," Pakkun said.

"But Master, you can't leave the village!" Shizune said.

"It'll just be a couple of hours. Kakashi will ask Kinjo while I'll go see Naruto."

"Tsunade-sama, don't you think that it'd be better if you just took him from there?" Kiba asked.

"His situation is not simple. The fact that his hair is now black already tells a lot of things," Tsunade said. "I'll just go there to know why he is being kept in the Holy Cave. I know that Baba can enlighten me. Besides, you cannot use another door out but the one you used to enter. That's a rule in summoning.

"I feel like he is in quite a pinch. Sanmyaku is a closed country. Maybe the reason Naruto had to change the color of his hair is to avoid suspicion…" A thought suddenly occurred to her.

"The Tsubasakage is concerned about the abnormal influx of immigrants into Nue," Kanade had said. "She's afraid a war may occur if this continues."

"A war…" Tsunade muttered.

"A war?" Yamamoto said. "What do you mean, Master Hokage? The Fourth Ninja War?"

"No. Remember Team Shikamaru's mission? They went to Sanmyaku because Taka needs medical ninjas. They need Sakura and Ino to teach them modern medical techniques. The Tsubasakage smelled war and she is preparing her village for it. Naruto might have gotten involved somehow."

"We must move fast," Hinata said in so soft a voice she was barely heard. "I don't want…I don't want anything to happen to him again."

That brought a long silence in the room. The tea inside the cups became an engaging sight. The sound of the night became louder than breaths. The candle of hope was lit up again and every one in the room had his or her hands around the fire so that it survived even a hurricane.

"I'm sorry. This is all my fault," Shizune said. Tears began to flood her swollen eyes again. "Momoko told me that she felt Naruto was still alive somewhere, but I treated it like a joke. If I just listened to her…"

"No one would have believed you," Tsunade finished for her. "I, I admit, wouldn't have. Don't blame yourself. Nobody could have been ready to hear any speculations."

"Hinata is right," Yamamoto said. "We should move fast to retrieve him. All we need to know is where he was when he was summoned to the Village of Dogs."

"I'm not sure about that," Neji said. "I think he will not be willing to go with us. You know Naruto. He doesn't stand still if something is happening around him."

Kakashi sighed. "That would be a problem."

"I'm not sending you to retrieve Naruto, but to assist him," Tsunade said. "And I want you to tell him that Sasuke might still be alive."

"Should we really tell him that?" Sai asked.

"He has the right to know. We didn't find Sasuke's body and the fact that someone had deceived us with a high level transformation technique is evidence enough that Madara was involved. The Inuzuka couldn't even find a trace of Sasuke's blood anywhere. Naruto should know about it for his own safety. He can't afford to be caught-off guard."

"Will you tell other village leaders about this?" Kakashi asked.

"At the moment it's hard to trust anyone. Those who are truly friends with Naruto will understand why we need to keep this a secret for now. Kakashi, I want you in my office tomorrow at three. The rest of you will wait for my orders." She stood up. "I'll be right back." When she returned, she was carrying a large jar of sake on her shoulder. She put it down at the center of the assembly. "It's time for some celebration."

Their laughs echoed around the room, laughs of joy, of hope, of being fooled once that the warm sun would never rise again. The cups went from lips to lips, distributing the spirit that was dominating everybody. At one point, Lee whirled and began to destroy things, earning a bloodied nose courtesy of Master Tsunade. At one point, Hinata started to sing her love for Naruto that left the men all blushing in embarrassment. At one point, Sai said that he was jealous of Sasuke because Naruto gave more attention to him. Then the teasing came about who had cried the most in Naruto's burial.

They spent the entire jar of sake and the sake spent them all. It was a never-ending night until dawn bit the rooster to crow the announcement of the coming morning. The color of the sun was his hair. The color of the sky was his eyes. And he was the reason the people in this small room snored beside their sour vomit with faces of contentment, without a care in the world.

…

After the smoke had cleared, the surroundings became clear. A village but no human lived. The houses were dandy enough that no one would ever think that what lived inside them walked in four paws. Upon seeing the red robe and the hat with the character for "Fire," the dogs stopped what they were doing and paid their respects by bowing before Tsunade.

"Paku, take Kakashi to the Wolf District," Pakkun said. "I'll take Hokage-sama to the Holy Cave."

Paku nodded. "This way, Kakashi."

The arrival of Kakashi at the Wolf District created quite a large ruckus. The wolf-folk didn't know what to do, but once they saw the Konoha emblem in his forehead protector, they all bowed and told their appreciation of receiving a visit from a summoner. They bristled at Paku.

The Elder ran frantically to meet Kakashi. He froze when he saw him.

"Elder, this is Kakashi, my master," Paku said.

The Elder fell on one knee. "It is a great honor to meet you, Kakashi-sama. I'm the elder of this district."

"I want to talk with Kinjo, Elder-san. It is important."

"I'm sorry but he is not here, Kakashi-sama. He is with Setsuko-chan in the Mitsubachi-kira's lair."

"Could anyone take me to him?"

"Will you have the grace to let me know what you need from Kinjo? As the elder of this district, I'm concerned about the well-being of my people."

Kakashi thought for a while and then said, "I want to know some information about this boy." He produced Naruto's photo.

The Elder reached out with shaking hands. "This boy?" He gulped and looked at Kakashi. "What did this boy do? Is he a criminal?"

"I'm his sensei. I'd appreciate it if you told me where Kinjo is, Elder-san."

"Is he important to you?"

"Yes," Kakashi said without a trace of hesitation.

The Elder stared at Kakashi's exposed eye and saw nothing but truth in it. He stood up. "Bakuryu! Cujo! Come forward!" A lean man with gray dreadlocks and an open shirt and a black-haired man approached behind him. "Introduce yourselves to Kakashi-sama."

The man with the gray dreadlocks knelt. "My name is Cujo, Kakashi-sama."

"Mine is Bakuryu," the black-haired man said. "We are Kinjo-san's subordinates."

"I want to see Kinjo. Please take me to him," Kakashi said.

Bakuryu looked at the Elder. The Elder nodded his head. "Go take Kakashi-sama to where he wants to go."

…

The sun was high in the sky.

The red streaks on her face glared directly at the sun. The large ones extended from bellow her eyes tapering to a point to her chin. The small ones were beside and situated outside these two streaks. The streaks looked like fangs of a wolf which had just eaten a deer. Her ears were pointed, too, as if she was an elf, which was true if the likeness in consideration was her beauty. Her skin was deeply tanned now from training long hours under the sun. Yes, Setsuko was in Sage Mode and with pride and confidence, she walked from one of the holes back to where the barrel was. Kinjo smiled at her.

"Perfect," Kinjo said. "You can now stay in Sage Mode for thirty minutes, enough to finish a battalion of soldiers."

Setsuko jumped onto the mouth of the barrel and poured the honey from her leather pouch. She squeezed the remaining honey out and sat next to Kinjo. "Do you think I can defeat Naruto-san, now, Father?"

"That's hard to say. You should fight him if you really want to know. Have you been visiting him?"

Setsuko blushed and the red streaks were not enough to hide it. This delighted Kinjo. Setsuko shook her head and looked down at her calloused hands.

"Are you afraid that he won't like you now, now that your hands are full of scars?"

Setsuko stood up. "Father! I told you to stop teasing me! I don't have any intention of impressing him!"

"Tell me again without that pretty blush on your cheeks."

"Father!"

"You can't, can you?"

"I hate you."

"Baba said that his chakra was getting more and more stable everyday. It's only a matter of days before he wakes up."

"He can stay sleeping for all I care."

"Pakkun told me the contrary."

"Pakkun?"

"Yes. He's a friend of mine. A small but wise pug."

Setsuko blanched. "H-he," she gulped, "told you?"

Kinjo looked at Setsuko and her expression made him laugh.

"Father! How many times must I tell you? Naruto is not my type!"

"Naruto?"

"Naruto?" a voice echoed from behind them. It was Kakashi's.

The place was full of sickening aura so it was impossible to detect the presence of another creature. Kinjo and Setsuko stood up and faced the two wolves, the shinobi, and the dog.

"Paku?" Kinjo said.

Paku glared at Kinjo. "I knew it."

Kinjo saw Kakashi's forehead protector. He bowed on the ground. "I'm sorry for my insolence, sir."

"Stand up." Kinjo obeyed. "What do you know about Naruto?"

Kinjo tried to search Bakuryu's and Cujo's faces, but they turned away. Kakashi and Paku were intently looking at him. He looked at the ground. "I'm sorry but I can't tell you anything. It's a direct order from a superior."

"What do you want with Naruto?" Setsuko asked, glaring.

"Stop it, Setsuko!"

"I'm his sensei. My name is Hatake Kakashi. Naruto is very important to me."

"How will you assure us that you are not here to harm him?"

"Setsuko!"

"It's all right, Kinjo. So you admit that the one you brought here is Uzumaki Naruto?"

"If you want information, answer my question."

"It seems that you are set not to believe anything that I will say."

"Try me."

"The Fifth Hokage is here to confirm that very fact. Pakkun is with her right now in the Holy Cave."

"The Fifth Hokage?" Kinjo was very nervous now.

"Yes. She knows Naruto well, and Baba will never withhold anything from her."

"That doesn't answer my question," Setsuko said.

"It answers a lot. The Hokage would have never even thought of going here if Naruto was not that important. As I was saying, Baba will surely cooperate and we will know the truth. I'm only asking you to know if _you_ are putting Naruto's life in danger."

"How dare you! Naruto is my…my friend! We will never even think of putting him in danger!"

"Thank you. Now, for the second question…"

Setsuko was horrified. She had just confirmed Naruto's identity. She looked at Kakashi, mouth gaping as big as the world. "No—I mean—"

"That's enough, Setsuko," Kinjo said. He exhaled and stared into Kakashi. "Are you really Naruto-sama's sensei?"

"Yes."

"Do you swear?"

"I do."

Kinjo stared at him for a moment longer. He couldn't find any pretense in Kakashi's exposed eye. "Naruto-sama saved our lives. I swore in the name of Village of Dogs to protect him with my life. I don't know what you are to him and he is to you, but I will not hesitate to kill you if you so much as glare at him with no reason."

"I assure you that I'm not here to do anything to him."

"The presence of a Kage in our village is very rare. The last time was over a hundred years ago. Your mere mention of the title is proof enough that Naruto-sama is indeed an indispensible shinobi of your village."

"He is the hero of our village."

"I see. Let's trade information then. Tell me what happened to him in your village and I'll tell you everything I know."

"Deal."

"Just so you know, even a slight hesitation will change my mind. If you try to lie, I will know. When that happens, you can kill me if you want, but you will never get anything from me."

"Okay."

Setsuko grabbed Kinjo's arm. "Father, what are you doing? You can't trust him just like that."

"Don't worry. I still don't trust him. Would you be kind enough to fetch us some honey?"

…

Tsunade shivered as she stared at Naruto. Baba and Pakkun was behind her and eyeing her with concern. She was so pale she looked like she might have a stroke and collapse. As she walked towards him, she stumbled quite a few times over the water surface as her chakra's stability faltered.

"Hokage-sama, please calm down," Baba said.

"The atmosphere here is affecting her. Can't you do something?" Pakkun said.

"I'm sorry but I can't. Kiri-sama has had his ears closed for a while now."

Tsunade reached Naruto and the tears began to flow. She tried to suppress her whimpers by biting her lower lip, but they still escaped her throat. She extended her hand and caressed his face, feeling the smoothness of his skin. The whiskers were not there anymore. His hair was black as what Pakkun had told her. But she didn't care. Naruto was alive. That was the only thing important to her.

"Can I enter his mind?" she asked.

"It will be very dangerous, Hokage-sama. He is in Hensen no Kuusho."

"Don't worry. I'm just asking to know if entering his mind will interrupt the ritual."

Baba shook her head, sending ripples through her long, curly hair. "No. The one who enters his mind is the one at risk. I strongly oppose the idea, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade smiled. "Take care of my body for a while." She made thirty-seven hand seals. "Mind Manipulation Technique: Subconscious Intrusion!"

Baba was behind her in the blink of an eye, catching her body before she hit the water.

…

Tsunade opened her eyes to see the world created by Hashirama. And when her vision cleared, she gasped. Standing before her was a very familiar man with long hair and red armor.

"I felt your presence outside. I knew that you would do something like this," Hashirama said. "Welcome."

"What the fuck is going on?"

_To be continued…_


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28: State of Shihai

"How…? Tsunade trailed off, staring intently at his grandfather. "I'm not dreaming, right?"

Hashirama smiled and shook his head. "No."

"Could you please tell me what is going on?"

"Let's take a walk, then." Hashirama told her how he was still alive, only withholding facts that would raise unnecessary questions. "I'm going to kill Madara, Tsunade, and I need Naruto to do that."

"This is unbelievable."

"Don't you want to see me?"

"No, no, it's not that, Ojii-chan, it's just incredible that a technique like this exists."

"Existed. Without the prism, no genius medical shinobi will be able to do the same thing. And there is only one prism like this on earth. I was just too lucky that it was given to me."

"Won't you really change your mind?"

"I told you, I and Madara are anomalies in history. I've lived for too long to hear nature when it whispers. I can't go back to Konoha and risk bringing misfortune with me."

"You will be a blessing to Konoha, Ojii-chan. Please reconsider."

"I've already made up my mind, Tsunade. I'll remain dead to the current generation as long as I can, and that requires great cooperation from you."

Tsunade looked at the ground, on the verge of tears.

"My time had passed, Tsunade. A very long time ago. I'm just here to finish what I failed to do in the past. The world may be peaceful or chaotic after this, but, at least, it will not be brought by people who are already rightfully dead."

Tsunade wiped her tears with her fingers. "I missed you."

Hashirama smiled and put a hand on her head. "Let's go. The fight will end any minute now."

Tsunade looked up. "Fight?"

"Fight."

…

Hashirama took her to a cliff overlooking a wide plain below. He had explained to her the situation. When she saw Tobirama, Kushina, and Minato, she was not that shocked, but it still took a moment for her to stop staring at the three. Kushina went over and gave her a hug.

"My cute son is winning, Tsunade-sensei," Kushina said. "Look. Naruto! Your Tsunade-obaa-chan is here! Don't dare lose the fight!"

They didn't hear her. All they could hear were their pulse and breathing. They had been fighting for a while now, and the fight was in its climax.

Hiruzen stared up at Naruto. He was in his black coveralls, his diamond staff at a ready behind him. He was bruised and wounded, the blood already dry. He was breathing through his mouth.

Naruto crouched low on his surfboard. It was becoming difficult to control the wind. Right now, he was struggling to maintain balance. He considered if he should use his Ultimate Rasengan, and then shook his head. He would not use it. This was just a sparring. Ultimate Rasengan was too dangerous. But the old man was tough. He had been receiving his attacks as if they were nothing. The old man could counter well, and his mastery over various high level techniques was astonishing. All high level techniques he had used on the Third had come back to him a level stronger. He knew that he had to use his own jutsus. He had trained for this. Now was the right time to use them.

He formed seals, ending the series with his hands spread, both his thumbs and forefingers touching to form a spade. "Wind God Art: Wind Shockwave!" He sucked in air until his lungs inflated and blew it out his mouth. The shockwave was too fast for Hiruzen to dodge so he summoned a Gate of Hell. A thick, black metal gate with a sculpted samurai mask in front, large as a hill, appeared in time the shockwave hit the ground. The shockwave pressed the ground to form a deep crater, only sparing the part where Hiruzen hid behind the Rashomon. After a couple of seconds, Hiruzen called the Rashomon back. His eyes widened. Maybe they summed up to a thousand. A bead of sweat slid down from his forehead.

"Damn it," he muttered.

"I won, ojii-chan," Naruto said. "Wind God Art: Kamikaze, Ten Raised to Three."

His clones disembark towards a wide-eyed Hiruzen. How could he possibly defend against them?

"Hiruzen," Enma, his diamond staff, called out. "In here, you have your original chakra reserves. Show him the legendary defensive technique you used to save an island from disaster."

Hiruzen nodded. "Are you ready?"

"Enough talking. They're coming."

Hiruzen thrust the diamond staff into the ground with all his might. As fast as he could—and it was blinding—he made his seals. "Art of the Kings: Fortress of the King of Monkeys!" The ground shook, and then a giant black wall grew out from beneath the soil, a wall carved with the sacred stance and faces of the seventeen former kings of the Village of Monkeys. At its center was a statue of Enma himself, the Monkey King of the Diamond Fist."

The first of Naruto's clones hit the fortress. Boom! The fire was undoubtedly hot enough to melt iron, and its size was enough to melt a ton of iron. And hundreds more were coming. Naruto's kamikaze came like rain, bombarding the fortress for all the majesty it possessed. Diamond is the hardest of elements, but nothing escapes fire. Heat of severe magnitude can melt it, mercilessly and thoroughly. Each of Naruto's kamikaze clones was attached with an explosion tag he had carefully prepared. With Minato's help, each tag contained an explosion fifty times stronger than ordinary. Right now, his preparation was paying off.

"Hiruzen, find a place to hide! I will not be able to keep this up!" After two more explosions, Naruto's attack suddenly stopped. "What…?"

"What is happening?" Hiruzen asked.

"He fainted."

Naruto slumped on the surfboard, lost his balance, and plummeted down to the ground. Enma grew a hand from the fortress and caught Naruto in midair. He put him down in front of Hiruzen. Naruto was writhing in pain, embracing himself, trying hard to stop shivering.

"We were saved," Enma said and transformed into his actual appearance of a big monkey; the fortress dismantled into smoke, creating a thick fog around the area.

"We lost, Enma," Hiruzen said. He showed the Monkey King his body. There were holes in his limbs and torso. "I've used almost all of my chakra. I could've never escaped. Naruto put too much chakra in his clones and no one could have endured the pain every clone erupting like that sends to the original body. An ordinary shinobi could have died already if he had received the same amount of pain."

"Don't humble yourself in front of me and of this boy. He will not accept it. He lost because you forced him to use a technique he hasn't perfected, yet. Naruto-kun is strong, but he still needs to train hard."

Hiruzen stared at Enma. "You're right. But he held back a lot. Hashirama-sensei was wrong in thinking that Naruto could kill me. The boy is just too kindhearted that I'm starting to fear for him. He might refuse to kill an enemy."

"It reminds me of your attitude towards Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru is dead. And I'm not as good as this boy in determining people. He can be friends with anyone who has a cavity of kindness in the heart however small or unnoticeable for ordinary eyes it may seem."

Enma groaned. "Well, the fight is finished. Remember, you won, no other way around it. Tell Naruto-kun the truth." He disappeared into smoke.

And just as the smoke thinned into nothingness, Tsunade and company appeared behind Hiruzen.

"Great fight, Hiruzen," Hashirama said.

"Sensei…" Tsunade gulped.

For a moment, Hiruzen couldn't believe his eyes, but then, he understood and beckoned his former student for a hug.

…

Kushina and Minato had taken Naruto to their house. Hiruzen was sleeping in his room as well. After a short conversation with Tsunade, Tobirama excused himself and left his Ani-ue with Tsunade.

"Tsunade, can you keep this a secret?" Hashirama said, sipping some tea.

"You being alive?"

"No. Naruto being alive."

"What?" Tsunade put down her mug with a thud. "That's unfair! How will I be able to tell them? Look, Ojii-chan, when the news about Naruto's death reached the village, everyone was devastated."

"Hmmm…he's quite popular."

Tsunade stood up. "That's not the point!" She held her forehead. "Okay. How about if I tell only his closest friends about this?"

"No—"

"But, Ojii-chan—"

"But I'll let you send five shinobis here to assist us."

"Only five? Make it ten! I already prepared two teams which were originally—"

"Five is enough. Madara is still out there, waiting for his chance to attack. Ten shinobis are too much for Konoha to bear. You don't want to be caught-off guard when Madara makes his move."

She had almost forgotten about Madara because of excitement, and she blushed. She looked away fast so that Hashirama would not see. Hashirama knew how to tease a girl to tears.

"I want shinobis who specialize in Taijutsu and weaponry. I've heard from Naruto about three exceptional young shinobis in Konoha: Jyuuken-sei Hyuuga Neji, Full-Beads Fist Rock Lee, and Blade Master Tenten. The rest is up to you."

Still not looking at Hashirama, Tsunade said, "Tenten is not in Konoha. She had gone to train under the tutelage of her grandfather. She'll not be coming back until next spring. She's been with him for almost three years."

"Then it's time for her to come back. Naruto told me that she's a close friend."

"There are other shinobis in Konoha who I can send."

"I want those three or none. If you send me a team without even one of the three I mentioned, I'll send the team back."

He was at it again, thought Tsunade. Hashirama was infamous for the phrase "all or never." She was stubborn, but her grandfather was adamant as a steel coated diamond. This was one trait she was ambivalent about her grandfather.

Tsunade thought and remembered what Shizune had told her. Momoko. She brightened up. If Momoko believed that Naruto was still alive, Momoko would search for him. She whirled around, smiling. "Okay. I'll find a way to contact Tenten."

Hashirama was surprised with her change of manner. "That's good to hear."

Tsunade looked at the scenery outside while Hashirama sipped his tea, quietly. "Ojii-chan, I've heard that Sanmyaku is on the verge of war."

Hashirama looked up. "It is and so as the whole world."

"Ojii-chan, Naruto is…he's my son."

Hashirama spewed out the tea from his mouth. "What? You…you had an affair with Minato?"

"Baka!" Tsunade's voice boomed.

Hashirama laughed. "Just kidding. I know how important he is to you. I know you're worried for his safety. This I promise you, Tsunade, I'll protect him with my life. He is the sun that will rise to light the new world he will create himself."

Tsunade clasped her hands. "Protect him, Ojii-chan. I don't want to go through that pain anymore."

Hashirama smiled. "I will."

"Oh, before I forget, where is the amulet you gave me? I gave it to him. He's not wearing it."

"He lent it to someone special."

Tsunade frowned.

"She will give it back, I'm sure."

"She?"

"_Your _boy is quite the lady killer. Let me rephrase what I said. He is the sun that will rise to light the new _clan_ he will create himself."

It began as a smirk, but remembering the many confessions and implications she had heard and witnessed herself in Konoha and out, the smirk became a giggle, and then a laugh.

Hashirama raised his mug. "To Naruto's new clan!"

The two, who had both deceived and defied time, came back to the hours in the past where, as grandfather and granddaughter, erased their worries by laughing out loud.

…

"Are you sure you don't want to talk with him?" Hashirama asked. Tobirama, Hiruzen, Minato, and Kushina were also there to bid Tsunade goodbye.

"I'd rather not. I'll just wait for him to come back."

"I'll tell him—"

"No, Kushina. It'd be better if you kept from him that I was here. It might complicate things."

"I understand."

Tsunade looked at the faces of the love ones she had outlived. One by one, she engraved their appearance in her memory. "So, it's goodbye, again, for the second time." She eyed Minato and smiled at him, making him uncomfortable. She loved getting reactions like that from men who didn't know she already was a wrinkled hag. "Hashirama-ojii-chan suspected me of having an affair with you."

Kushina blanched, a vein throbbing in her temple. "Mi…na…to…!" she hissed. Her eyes could take down a huge man with their glare alone.

"You're very serious, Kushina. I'm only teasing your husband."

"It's sad that among you three, you're the only one remaining," Hiruzen said. "I trust you, Tsunade. I know that Konoha will prosper in your hands."

Tsunade gave each a hug and before she disappeared, she said, "The Will of Fire is my weapon. You smiths before me should not fear. I'll wield it with the belief that in time, with the legacy you have given us, we'll be able to attain true peace."

The five great shinobis smiled in relief, hope, confidence, and contentment. In the afterlife, they didn't need to worry about things in the living world, as long as Tsunade was Hokage.

"She will not keep her words," Hashirama said.

"I doubt that, Sensei," Hiruzen said.

"Not about her last words. About Naruto." A smile played in one corner of his mouth.

…

Kakashi was reading his Icha-Icha Paradise book when Pakkun and Tsunade arrived at Paku's house.

"Let's go home, Kakashi," Tsunade said.

From the look in her eyes, Kakashi understood everything. "Okay."

…

She needed to go on with the exhumation, despite Hashirama's request that Naruto's situation be kept secret. The identity of the body could be a lead to whoever had staged the deception and ultimately to where Madara was hiding. And so it was done. After only three days, with the help of the Hyuuga and Nara clan, they discovered that the corpse had been a young peddler kidnapped from Sunagakure.

Tsunade talked with the clan heads to keep the secret within the circle of authority, skeptic at the same time that the village would stay in the dark for long. _I'm sorry, Ojii-chan,_ was all she could say to abate herself of guilt. Now, she would not have had the courage to carry on if she hadn't known that Naruto was in Hashirama's care. And the way Naruto fought Hiruzen…A smile curved on her lips. "Damn, he is so strong now," she hissed. She remembered Jiraiya, the first day the pervert had defeated her in battle.

She gave herself a minimum of one month before an avid ear caught wind of the news. She decided to stick on her original plan of not telling the other hidden villages about it. _Naruto will come back_. _His arrival is enough to tell them everything._

Two days after they discovered the real identity of the corpse, Tenten came running through the gate, clothes torn, face muddy, eyes swollen from crying, hair disheveled, her large circle blade dangling against her back. She was deeply tanned and had grown thin from rigorous training, but it didn't affect her charms. She got into one of the shops she frequently frequented. The shop owner was surprised to see her.

"Why, isn't it Tenten?" she said.

"Please tell me the news is false. Please."

"What news, darling?"

"Is Naruto dead?"

"You didn't know—oh, my, I almost forgot." The owner's eyes welled up.

"Ayaka-san, please."

She put a hand on Tenten's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"No!" Strength left Tenten's knees. Ayaka needed to hold her to keep her on her feet.

A small gourd hit Tenten's head. Angered, Ayaka pushed the short old man away.

"What are you doing? Don't you see she is brokenhearted? Who are you anyway?"

The short old man raised his gourd. "Fill this up with sake, woman. Don't concern yourself with my granddaughter."

Tenten whirled and lifted the old man up by his collar. "Look, you geezer, I'm not in the mood right now. I just learned that a friend of mine had died. Even if we're family, I'll not hesitate to break your bones."

The old man laughed. "Let's go and see the Hokage, first."

Tenten grudgingly let go of the old man and stomped her way out of the shop.

"My gourd?" he asked Ayaka.

Ayaka thrust the gourd in the old man's chest. "We don't serve liquor in the morning," she said and walked away.

"My, my, quite a welcome for the famous Zhao Xing Li."

"Zhao Xing Li is just a legend," said a voice from the doorway.

Zhao turned to the doorway. "Oh, Gai. How are you?"

He sported, as usual, his coconut-shell hairdo and tight green coveralls with pride and vanity, but he was not wearing his usual grin. "Tenten is crying. I hope to the gods that your selfishness didn't take the better out of you."

"Depressing things won't help her improve."

"God damn it." Gai sighed. "She didn't know that Naruto is dead. Until just now."

Zhao walked casually past Gai. "Yes. She wanted to be stronger because she felt unimportant. You _begged_ me to make her stronger. I have my rules."

"I shouldn't have entrusted her to you."

"Too late. She's _my_ student now. And I have every right because I'm the only family she has." Zhao walked a couple of steps before he stopped. He looked up at Gai. "You really suck at acting, you know. Still have a grudge on me because I refused to take you as my student?" He chuckled and went on towards the direction of Tsunade's office.

…

Tenten stood in front of Tsunade, sniffing, tears flowing continuously from her eyes, across her cheeks, to her chin, ending as splatters on the floor. She had been inside Tsunade's office for ten minutes now. Tsunade had refused to talk, telling her that she needed Zhao's presence before she told her anything.

The door creaked and the old man entered and stood beside Tenten. "Greetings, Master Hokage. Sorry. Hard to find a shop selling sake in the morning these days." Obviously, he was drunk.

Tsunade got to the point. "Tenten didn't come for Naruto's burial. I thought that my message hadn't reached you and I had no way of contacting you anymore unless you let me know where you were. Someone had requested her service and I tried to send through a message via the previous method you appointed with me. The funny thing is, it went through. Now, answer me, truthfully, Master Zhao. Did you keep the information about Naruto's death from Tenten?"

Zhao smiled. "Yes, I did. What do you want me to do? Humans can only pursue a single goal at a time. The best pursue a single goal throughout their lifetimes. Naruto is important to Tenten. She wouldn't have finished her training if she had learned about his death. You can hate me if you want, but I never let my emotions stop me from doing what I believe is right."

Tsunade sighed. "I never expected you to be this cold."

Zhao shrugged. "Just doing my job. She turned out perfectly, anyway. I won't have regrets even if you condemn me."

"That won't be necessary." Tsunade put her hands together. "Don't worry, Tenten. Only a few trusted know, but Naruto is alive. I've seen him myself, and you will be one of the five shinobis I'll be sending to help him out."

Tenten's eyes were wide when she looked up. Zhao wasn't surprised even a little.

"Is it true, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes. You take your rest today. Tomorrow, come to my house after working hours."

Tenten slumped on her knees, bawling now—crying, it seemed, wouldn't be enough for her. Her relief was too great her tears refused to stop, her voice box refused from wailing.

…

No one had told him that Tsunade was there. And he would never know, maybe until he met with the five shinobis Tsunade would be sending for him. Kakashi had requested the wolves and Setsuko to keep their conversation a secret from him, sensing what Naruto would do if he knew that his friends were too worried about him they couldn't sleep at night. Kakashi knew that Naruto was a worry-wart when it came to his friends. Telling him would strip Naruto of concentration and make him prone to blunders. It would be dangerous.

Naruto now stood in front of the barrier that caged his giant self. It had been three months already in Hashirama's world, a week in the real world—a week after Tsunade's visit. It was time, Hashirama had said. The tune up with Minato had gone well, and nobody doubted that he would win. Everyone's judgment was the same.

The tails of his head band his mother had made for him flapped against the wind. He looked back at the people behind him. He knew that after this, he would not be seeing them again. A pang of pain pinched his heart. He could elect his two years with them as the longest time he had been contented with his life. He would miss his mom's cooking and loving care, his pop's company, his Hiruzen-ojii-chan's philosophies, and his Tobirama-ojii-chan's superstitions. But as what his Hashirama-sensei had been telling him, their time had passed. In their conversations—and they had been lengthy ones—he hadn't perceived any lingering regrets in their words. They had even bragged about their deaths. He sighed. He would surely miss them.

"I'm going," Naruto said.

Kushina felt his son's hesitation and the tears found their way to her eyes. _I don't want to leave my son. God, if you're real, please give me more time. I want to be by his side when he takes up the responsibility his father had prematurely left._ She turned around and wiped her face. Her shoulders shivered with each sob.

Minato put an arm around her and whispered, "Come on, now, Kushina. Let's give him support. If your son sees you getting mushy right now, he'll worry."

Kushina looked up and let a quivering breath out her mouth. "I know."

Minato wiped the moisture from his wife's face with his thumbs. "We saw him grow into a man. That's already enough, honey."

Kushina looked into him, and then nodded. "Okay."

Naruto expected a big fight. With his other self's size, a punch would be as massive as his Ultimate Rasengan. He breathed in, unaware that something unexpected would happen.

Naruto clutched the surfboard at his side, looking ahead at the giant Naruto with palpable determination in his eyes. The giant Naruto stirred.

"I'm ready," Naruto said.

The arm of the giant flew to hit Naruto, but it suddenly stopped. Only the wind reached him, ruffling his black hair and clothes and head band. The width of the giant's palm was taller than him; he was just as big as the giant's thumb. It should have intimidated him, but he didn't flinch. His blue eyes stared ahead, into the eyes of the giant Naruto which were confused. They stared at each other for a long moment.

The giant smiled and retrieved his arm. "I don't want to fight you, anymore," he said, his voice echoing like a collapsing mountain.

"What?"

"I will not be able to defeat you even if I try. I'm sorry to disappoint, but it will just be a waste of time. I concede. It will be an honor to be one with you." The giant stood up and bits of rock fell from the narrow mountain it had been sitting on all this time. "I expect great things from you." And just like that, the giant puffed into shimmering blue dust, a mist of amethyst in the air.

Nothing happened at first, but then Naruto felt his body beginning to get hot. The pain escalated and he couldn't help dropping on his knees and clutching at his ribs. His surfboard fell beside him, rotating itself as if wind was playing with it, but there was no wind. Red chakra enveloped Naruto.

"Naruto? Naruto!" Kushina started for his son, but Hashirama stopped her.

"It's starting. Let him be. If his will is not that strong, he will lose himself and I will kill him."

"What? Do you think I will just stand quietly while you do that?" Kushina pulled her arm away from Hashirama's grasp and ran towards Naruto.

Minato tried to follow, but he was pushed back by the barrier Naruto had set up around himself. Minato frowned. How had Kushina managed to enter?

Tobirama and Hiruzen formed hand seals.

"Stop!" Hashirama yelled, his face grim. "Don't add any more pressure. Naruto is barely enduring. Now that the Fox's chakra is flowing inside his chakra circulatory system, everything you do inside this territory will hurt him."

"How about Kushina?" Minato asked.

"I don't know!" He caught himself and talked in a calmer voice. "I don't know. Let's just hope that Naruto contains the Fox before he hurts his mother."

Kushina knelt in front of Naruto, her face full of anxiety. "Naruto. Naruto, look at me. You can do this, okay? You're strong, Naruto." When Naruto kept his head bowed, Kushina reached out and raised his face. She searched his face. Naruto's eyes couldn't focus. _He's so hot!_ "Naruto, do you hear me? It's mom. Look at mom, son. Naruto!"

Naruto put a hand on Kushina's shoulder, then, suddenly, it went to her neck. Kushina didn't move. She kept staring and talking to him.

In Naruto's point of view, Kushina's face was blurry. The other four people behind her were monsters. Was this person a monster like them, he thought. A surge of pain beat him from the inside, and he coughed up blood.

"Who are you?" His voice was a husky bass.

"It's mom, Naruto." She held his hands. "It's me, your mother."

"Mom?" Another surge of pain. "I don't know you—"

Kushina slapped him. She knew that it was the Fox's chakra that was doing that to him, but she couldn't help it. It had been a long time before she was able to see him again. She just couldn't bear hearing something like that from her own son. "I'm your mom!"

The slap brought him back. If a while ago he couldn't remember what he was doing, where he was, and who he was, now everything became clear. The sharp pain the slap had brought wrenched his head back in the direction he had been forced to look away from. "Mom, get away from me. Please."

"What?"

He turned his head to his mother and smiled. "Thank you. I've gotten my senses back. Mom, please. I don't want you to get hurt." He pushed himself up. Kushina leaped away from him. He straightened, closed his eyes, and slowly exhaled.

…

Kiri, the spirit of the Founder who dwelled in the Holy Cave, watched in fascination as the eternally calm pond in the chamber grew ripples without wind or external forces he could see. The ripples emanated from where the boy was shackled. Kiri raised his arm. His eyes widened when he felt the raging aura from the boy. He smiled when the boy opened his eyes. "Welcome back."

Naruto broke free from the chains and floated down to the surface of the pond. He ripped his clothes before forming thirty-three hand seals. "Ura no Hakke Fuin no Jutsu!" _Reverse Hakke Fuin Technique._ He spread his arms and eight divine astronomical seals, each character inside a blue flare, floated in a circle in front of him. "Shihai no Jootai!" _State of Shihai._ The eight divine astronomical seals drilled themselves into his chest. Wedge-shaped, black tribal markings formed intricate patterns on his chest and back, on his shoulders and upper arms. When he opened his eyes, a gust of wind blasted out from him. The gust blew through the cave, through the trees outside, through the two districts, and through the edges of the Village of the Dogs.

Setsuko and Kinjo perked up as they felt his presence. Naruto had finally awakened.

_To be continued…_


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Kushina and Shizumaru

Naruto felt his muscles throbbing. Hashirama had explained this to him before he went to face his giant self.

"Once you reverse the Hakke Fuin, your chakra will try to synchronize with your physical body," he had said. "Outside you have been inactive for almost two months. The _physical_ changes that happened to you here will incorporate themselves into your solid body. You may have to endure a day to two days of muscle pain."

"I should expect injuries, then."

"Every Jinchuuriki who attained Shihai underwent the same changes. Do you remember how the Demon Fox had protected you from injuries back then? You only have to endure the pain the change will bring. The Kyubi's chakra will take care of the rest."

Naruto's muscles went on expanding and contracting. He thought he could hear his bones creak. He looked down and the water made him feel a severe thirst he had not noticed until now. He knelt on the surface to drink.

"I'm sorry, but you are not allowed to drink that."

He jumped upon hearing the voice. "Who's there?" He looked around. A tall man with black hair that reached the ground appeared before him. Naruto frowned. "Who are you?"

"I'm the guardian of this cave."

A feeling of guilt commensurate to someone catching him stealing food hit Naruto. He averted his eyes. "I'm sorry."

The tall man smiled. "The air is filled with water. All you have to do is call it up." Kiri reached out behind him, as if reaching out for a fruit hanging from a tree, and gracefully retrieved his hand. Magically, a ball of water materialized over his palm. "Drink this, Naruto-sama."

Naruto was taken aback. "You know me?" The sound of panting pulled Naruto's attention towards the wide entrance. A beautiful woman with white curly hair, which reached the ground as the tall man's did, looked at him with mixed relief and bewilderment.

"Naruto-sama…" She walked briskly towards him. "My name is Baba. I'm glad that you've finally come to. Can I be of any service?"

"You are the people who've been taking care of me?"

"Yes." Baba looked at the tall man, and then back at Naruto with inquiring eyes. "You can see him?"

"He's just trying to—see him? What do you mean?" He glanced at the tall man and frowned. "Yes. I can see him."

Baba shook her head. "Don't mind me, Naruto-sama."

The tall man reached out and held Naruto's wrist. He put the ball of water in Naruto's hand. "Here, Naruto-sama. Drink it to quench your thirst." He slowly disappeared. "Now that Baba is here, I should take my leave."

"Who is he?" Naruto asked. He _forgot_ how to be surprised with such disappearing acts after his two years in Hensen no Kuusho.

"His name is Kiri, the Founder of the Village of Dogs."

"What? Oh, no! I didn't know that he was a very important person. I haven't even thanked him!"

"Don't worry about it, Naruto-sama. You are still above him. In villages of beasts, the summoners are virtually deities. I'm just surprised that he showed himself to you. He's only shown himself to me until now."

He began to drink from the ball of water, pushing from his consciousness the pain his throbbing muscles sent to his brain. Baba looked on until he finished.

"You must be very hungry," Baba said.

Upon hearing that, his stomach grumbled. He sheepishly looked up at Baba, averting his eyes the moment hers met them.

Baba chuckled. "No need to be shy, Naruto-sama. It's been a long while since your last solid meal. I've only been feeding you with capsules and juices."

"Yeah. I'm kinda hungry right now."

"Do you want me to prepare you a meal?"

"No, not yet. I still need to go back to my subconscious."

"To say goodbye?"

Naruto gaped. "You also know—"

Baba nodded. "Yes. I and Kiri-sama have known that fact from the moment I took you in this cave."

Naruto involuntarily shivered. "I'm starting to get nervous around you."

Baba laughed.

Suddenly, Kiri reappeared, hovering behind her. "You're laughing."

Baba caught herself. "I'm sorry, Kiri-sama."

"That's a good thing. I've never heard it for a very long time."

Naruto saw Baba blush. It was clear to him now what relationship the two had or used to have, if what he was seeing was correct. Baba seemed as if she was trying hard to avoid Kiri, but was also desperate for his attention.

"Ano…excuse me."

"Yes, Naruto-sama," Baba said.

"I'm sorry, but I need to go now."

"Okay. We'll be waiting for you."

Naruto sat like a monk at the center of the pond and closed his eyes.

…

Naruto opened his eyes and was surprised to see only white space around him. Hashirama, Tobirama, Hiruzen, his dad, and his mom were standing in front of him. "Where is the village?" he asked.

"It's already gone," Hashirama said. "There's no need for it, anymore."

Hashirama's last line pushed up a knot in his throat, and it became hard for him to swallow. "I can't stay here anymore?"

"Yes. I declare that your training is officially finished."

Naruto didn't hear Hashirama. "Even for a couple of days more?" His voice began to falter.

"I'm sorry, Naruto."

Naruto looked up and the tears began to fall. Tobirama and Hiruzen were the first to approach him, each giving him a long, loving embrace.

"Naruto, remember this," Tobirama said. "You are of our clan, and I believe that you'll be a great Hokage someday. The young ones are the future of this world. Protect them with your strength and inspire them with you achievements."

"The Will of Fire is in you, Naruto," Hiruzen said. "It shines brightly from inside of you. Never let the fire die. Kindle it with hard work, optimism, and determination. One day, your fire will burn away the darkness in this world. I'm proud of you. Very proud." He wiped his eyes with his fingers. "Please protect Konohamaru."

As Tobirama and Hiruzen went to say their goodbye to Hashirama, Naruto approached his parents. His face was now wet with tears and clear snot.

"Oh, come on!" Minato said. "I'd rather have my son sending us off with a smile on his face."

Naruto embraced his father. "I'm gonna miss you, Dad."

Minato sighed and put a hand behind Naruto's head. "Yeah. I'm gonna miss you, too, son." He looked over the three other Hokages, and then sighed again. "Take care of your mom, okay?"

Naruto didn't hear that. He just nodded to show his father he had.

"Naruto, promise me something."

"Okay."

"Promise me not to cry like this again. This training is for you to be prepared for war. It's okay to let a few drops slip, but to be crying like a kid in war—like what you're doing now—will bring many negative things, especially to your comrades. Things like fear, anxiety, doubt, and even distrust. War takes into account the smallest and seemingly inconspicuous subtleties that are usually insignificant to a peaceful, normal life. Many say that a true man is not ashamed to cry, but the fools take it as if it's not bad crying in front of people. It not only looks unsightly, it also gives away matters that should be kept hidden. Wise people don't let emotion cloud the promise of victory on their faces. To become an effective warrior, flame should be in your eyes. That flame comes from here." He pecked Naruto's temple with his forefinger. "It keeps you calm and composed; it never makes your breath constricted or your pulse rate unnecessarily high.

"We are already dead, Naruto. I want to see that you understand that fact."

Naruto wiped his tears with his forearm. "I'm sorry."

"I agree with your father," Kushina said. She wanted to say more, but she lost her voice. She embraced Naruto. "I'll miss you, Naruto."

After their short conversation, Tobirama, Hiruzen, Minato, and Kushina walked away from Hashirama and Naruto. Naruto didn't notice the odd look Hashirama had been giving Kushina for a while now, as if something was amiss with her. He was not thinking anything but a wish that somehow a miracle happened and he was given more time to spend with them. Tobirama and Hiruzen continued to walk on without looking back until both of them faded and disappeared. Minato looked back once, smiling at his son before he disappeared himself. When Kushina was a considerable distance away already, she also looked back. Naruto started for her but stopped himself. He turned around, his fists shivering at his sides. Hashirama kept staring at Kushina, he himself dispersing into dust of light.

"Shit," Hashirama hissed.

Naruto jerked his head towards Hashirama. He frowned at Hashirama's horrified expression. "What's happening, Hashirama-sensei?"

Hashirama was almost completely gone now. "Naruto, I'll come for you as soon as I can! Do not—" He vanished.

"Hashirama-sensei! What is happening?"

"Naruto?"

He looked at the origin of the voice. "Mom? What are you still doing here?"

Kushina inspected herself. "I don't know. I'm not disappearing."

"What?" He ran towards his mom. "H-how?"

"I don't know!"

Naruto looked up to see if Kushina's moon—the ball of chakra—was still there. All he saw was white space. "Maybe your chakra is still up there—" He felt his heart stop. He stiffened, and he involuntarily grabbed at his chest, wringing the cloth over it. Strength was swept from his legs and he fell on his knees. He couldn't even stay sitting. A few seconds after he had fallen on his knees, he collapsed forward, panting as if only carbon dioxide was there in the air.

"Naruto!"

…

"Kiri-sama. Kiri-sama! Please show yourself. Something is wrong. Naruto-sama is losing color."

Kiri appeared beside her, eyes closed. "One existence other than himself is still inside him."

"What?"

"_She_ has a strong will. She doesn't want to leave him."

Baba was worried now. "This is the first time something like this has happened. What will happen to him?"

"The Hakke Fuin is a seal that eventually let the Jinchuuriki control the Biju locked inside of him. It has what is called Space of Transition, which is a large space inside the Jinchuuriki's mind that separates the Biju's chakra from the owner's chakra. Now, this space is usually used by the Jinchuuriki to prepare himself for Shihai. Past Jinchuurikis who managed to attain Shihai, and eventually Yuujo, had taken someone with them inside the Space of Transition to train with. Since Naruto-sama has attained Shihai, the Space of Transition is already gone. Without it, no one will be able to stand two different existences in a single body. It's like feeding a machine with two different operating systems at the same time. We need to remove the other existence before it's too late."

…

Baba carried Naruto in her arms and followed Kiri.

"We need to transfer the other existence into a pod," Kiri said. "Like us, she still has an unfinished business in this world. I still remember The Great Elder's shock when your soul refused to go on to the other world because of me."

"I don't want to talk about it, Kiri-sama. Please."

"I understand." He kept silent for a few moments, and then added. "Baba, I'm bound to this world for all eternity. You don't have to do this. It is painful to have a body that doesn't grow old. Baba—"

Baba cut into Kiri's path, looking up at him with pleading eyes. "Please. I'm here because of…don't try to make me admit it, Kiri-sama. This is a choice I made."

Kiri reached out and caressed Baba's face. "Admit it and be free."

Baba glared at him. He had been trying it every time she went to the Holy Cave. The only thing she had regretted before she died was not being able to admit her feelings for Kiri. And that had bound her to the realm of the living. She knew that if she fulfilled her desire, her desire of telling him how she loved him, the supernatural chain that had enabled her to stay by his side would disappear. She would have no other choice but to leave. If immortality was filled with agony, but was the only way to be with her most precious man, she would endure.

Baba averted her eyes. "We must take him to the _Nest,_ immediately, Kiri-sama. Please, let's not waste time here discussing something that was already settled a long time ago."

Kiri sighed. "I'm sorry."

…

The Nest was a large chamber at the bottom of the cave, and the most beautiful of the chambers. There was a kind of aura inside the place that made its visitors feel nothing but warmth, coziness, and sometimes lethargy. The smooth, white walls curved up gracefully to the high ceiling. Magnificent stalactites and stalagmites had been erected by time like it was capable of design. There was group of stalagmites that formed a flower, a group that formed a hand, and there was yet another that formed a head of a lion. But the most outstanding among them was the pair that mirrored each other: the Gemini, a stalactite and a stalagmite that somewhat formed two faces lovingly staring at each other.

Kiri looked around the walls of the chamber, at the grooves in them where the pods lay. He floated from one groove to another to look for the most suitable container for the existence in Naruto. He based his judgment on what he had felt. Strong willed, beautiful, boisterous, and very talkative. He could not be wrong. He peered into one groove and saw a transparent baby in it, a baby girl. He reached out for the baby, his hands sinking into the gelatin-like barrier around it. Once the baby was in his hands, he floated down to where Baba waited.

"Here she is," Kiri said. He laid the baby beside Naruto. He glanced up at Baba. "Let's do it." Kiri put his hands over Naruto's and the baby's chests. "Walk over." A ghost-like, weightless matter went out of Naruto's mouth and entered the transparent baby. As the ghost-like matter filled the baby up, changes slowly happened on the baby. Kiri glanced over his shoulder at Baba. "She will wake up soon. Take care of the rest." He faded and disappeared.

…

The wolf's ears with pink fur flicked against the softness of the pillow. Wind was coming in from the open window, bringing the scent of fresh grass from outside. Lids of her eyes opened and revealed a pair of dark purple irises. The irises moved from left to right, top to bottom, then settled back straight ahead on the ceiling. A moment of inactivity. Two moments. Three. Until it occurred to her.

"Naruto!" she blurted out. She felt something against her bottom and frowned. She reached for it. When she felt the furry _thing_, she shrieked. She got off from bed and looked for whatever it was. Strangely, it disappeared. She looked around. She couldn't find any sign of it anywhere. "What was that?" As she sighed in relief, the furry thing touched her arm and she jumped back. It was then that she realized that the furry thing was _attached _to her. She blanched. And screamed.

Kushina heard footsteps coming from outside. When the door opened, a tall woman with white curly hair came in.

"What's happening? Are you all right?"

Kushina further squeezed herself in between the lamp table and bed. Her face was wet with tears.

"Don't be afraid. My name is Baba. You're in my house." Baba smiled and her beauty relieved some of Kushina's fear. "I'm a friend."

"What am I? Why do I have a tail?"

Baba went and sat on the edge of the bed. "You're a spirit and you are in a pod."

"A pod?"

"We are the same. I'm also in a pod. Pods are containers invented by the Founder of the Village of Dogs for extremely injured wolves or…" she glanced at Kushina, "…for _lost _souls."

Kushina understood what was happening. "That's right!" She stood in front of Baba. "Naruto? Where's my son?"

"So Naruto-sama is your son?"

Kushina frowned. "Naruto-sama? What…what is your relationship with him?"

Baba giggled. "I'm the co-founder of this village. Naruto-sama is our special guest."

Kushina stared at Baba. "Okay. So you're saying that Naruto has been in this village ever since Hensen no Kuusho? And you're the ones who took care of him?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Do you have any idea why I can't leave?"

"In Hensen no Kuusho, a Jinchuuriki can take anybody he likes to train with. However, only those who have been borrowed from the other world can be in the situation you're in now. A living person is automatically pulled from the Jinchuurikis mind once the Space of Transition disappears. I take it that you are already dead?"

"Yes."

"I died a very long time ago, too. I'm here because I had a wish I hadn't fulfilled, yet." Baba stood up, easily towering over Kushina. "Let's go see your son."

As they walked down the long hallway, Kushina tried to sort out the situation. Was this really the world she had once lived in? She was beginning to feel afraid. The first shock was when Hashirama had pulled them out from their eternal slumber using a small amount of chakra he had gotten from them before they died. The second shock was learning that Hashirama was still alive. Now the third was this. The technique Tamotsu had used to revive Hashirama was already unbelievable. She hadn't expected that there was an equally incredible way to revive dead people. She shivered at the thought. How many more revelations could she find out while she was in her she-wolf body?

"Ano…you said that you died a long time ago."

"Yes. If you want to know how long you can stay, the answer is as long as you deem your last wish not yet satisfied." Baba stopped at a door. "This is his room."

"I think I'll pass for now. I have a lot of questions to ask."

…

Shikaku Nara, Shikamaru's father, the head of the Research Department, lean and authoritative in his stiff pigtail and carefully trimmed goatee, the two large scars slanting across his right temple and right cheek, stood in front of Tsunade. In his hands was the written report on the investigation he and his team had conducted on the peddler's body.

"What did you get?" Tsunade asked.

Shikaku put the paper down on Tsunade's desk. "The shape shifting technique used on the peddler was incredible. Whoever made the fake body was a genius. The perpetrator didn't use any natural elements like what ordinary shape shifting techniques require. The perpetrator _directly_ molded the peddler's muscles to form the fake Naruto.

"From our deliberations, we concluded that the body of the peddler had been carefully chosen for the purpose. The young peddler's age, height, possible weight, bone structure, facial orientation, jaw line, and teeth were virtually similar to those of Naruto's. Even if you went on with the autopsy, you still might've missed the trick. We strongly feel that the group behind this was originally planning to abduct Naruto and buy time by deceiving us with the fake body. But since the truth is otherwise, I can say that they failed." He looked up. "Or the plan was prematurely executed."

Tsunade and Shikaku locked eyes. "You think Sasuke's attack is not what it seemed to be?"

"We're not sure about that, yet. The only fact we have is Sasuke impaled Naruto with the Kusanagi. Kakashi witnessed that himself."

Tsunade sighed. "Go on."

"Not even Akamaru detected that the body was fake. The shape-shifting technique was able to come up with a 99.9% physically accurate Naruto. It was designed to fool the keenest of senses." Shikamaru looked concerned when he said, "Naruto and the fake also have the same DNA strands."

"What?"

"Whoever did this knew what he was doing and had covered the possibility of exhumation and post-mortem analysis."

Beads of sweat sprouted out from her forehead. "Who on earth has that ability?"

Shikaku shuffled the report and put the five last pages on top of the pile. He pushed the pile in front of Tsunade. "This is the list of shinobis that specialize in shape-shifting techniques. We already interrogated every suspect on the list that resides in Konoha and came up with nothing. If we are to interrogate those that don't live here, we first must tell the other villages that Naruto is alive, and in my opinion as an analyst and a father…" he looked up, "…it is the worst move."

Tsunade was reading the names. "Personally, who do you think was the perpetrator?"

"This is somewhat farfetched, Tsunade-sama, but the people that I suspect are not on that list."

"What do you mean?"

Shikaku began rummaging something inside his vest. "I was planning to research further on these people before writing them down." He gave the list to Tsunade. There written the names Naomi Jocho, Hachiro Jocho, and Shizumaru Jocho. "These are the only remaining Jochos in the world. As everybody knows, the clan is extinct."

"The Jocho clan. The Divine Sculptors."

"Yes. They had a Kekkai Genkai eye ability called the Kuogan, the divine eye for details. It is said that the Kuogan could make out the difference between two viruses, perfectly measure dimensions based on known standards, express the location of points of a line on paper, create ambigrams in a matter of seconds, decipher impenetrable codes, etcetera. People began to call them the Divine Sculptors after a Jocho Grand Master made a bust of a young man he had seen in a dream. After two days, a young man conquered Agoya and became Emperor. The bust and the young man looked eerily identical.

"However, the thing that drew me to them is not their mythical abilities, but the fact that one ancient Jocho shinobi created one of the most famous ninjutsus in the world: the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

"You're losing me."

"This will explain why Kakashi and the others didn't find anything wrong with the fake's appearance. You know for a fact that only chakra is able to record every _detail_ of how a person looks like: every scar, blemish, pock mark, deformation. Chakra is like film. With Kuogan, a drop of fresh blood with living cells containing chakra is enough to flawlessly replicate a body.

"I still don't know the full extent of Kuogan's ability, but Jinboro Jocho, the creator of Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, discovered the technique when he made a replica of himself while escaping his pursuers. The ancient shinobis hadn't discovered the use of hand seals yet that time, so only the ones gifted with Kekkai Genkai abilities can mold chakra in their desired shapes. That is the reason why shinobis with Kekkai Genkai in this era were often regarded as _kijutsushi _or those 'who are divine.'

"Tsunade-sama, I believe that the origin of all shape-shifting techniques is the Jocho clan. Jinboro Jocho couldn't have made a deceiving replica of himself if he hadn't had enough knowledge about shape-shifting science. I think the Jocho shinobis dedicated themselves to studying this science."

"You've researched that far?"

"Yes. I have an ancient scroll written by the historian poet Okoshi with these following lines:

_Deep in the dark Twins whispered of creating—_

_A possibility that no one can fathom—_

_A temporary being to do one's bidding,_

_A bidding to kill, to ransack, to conquer_

_So the Chisels of Heaven will rise from the bottom._

"According to scholars, the Jocho became a powerful group because of the size of their army. But unfortunately, the clan was cursed. Many women of the clan were barren. Only five percent of the total female population were blessed enough to have offspring. A maiden of the Jocho fell in love with the poet Okoshi and in his songs he wrote of the family he became a part of. There were enough implications in his words that explain how the Jocho managed to build a large army despite of the situation of the clan's women. For example, Okoshi called the Jocho clan a clan of Twins. In one of his verses, he wrote, "I saw ten soldiers of one heart, of one creed, of one face…" He saw that Tsunade was having a hard time absorbing the information, so he got down to the point. "I can brag that I have the highest IQ in all of Konoha, but my assumptions of how the perpetrator made the fake body have many missing links. There are things that I can't understand, processes that are beyond my knowledge and reasoning. This is my conclusion. First, I'm one hundred percent sure that the perpetrator has an ability nobody else has, a blood line limit. Second, the perpetrator knows about unrecorded facts about shape-shifting science. That only points us to one direction."

"The Jocho clan. But what if there is someone out there who has the same capability? The world is big."

"I got the same opinion the first time the Jocho clan came to my mind. But one girl convinced me that no one other than them could be the perpetrator."

"One girl?"

"Hyuuga Aika."

"How?"

"Kakashi said that she didn't doubt that it was Naruto when she saw the fake body—"

"The Spirit Thumbprint!"

"Yes. As a Hyuuga Hybrid, she has the ability to see the Chakra Signature of a person. Even without using her Byakugan, she should have seen the body's true nature right away, but Kakashi told me that she had the same reaction as everyone. The perpetrator copied Naruto's Chakra Signature and only one technique in the whole world can replicate the Chakra Signature of a person. It's the ancient Reincarnation of the Living Technique—now non-existent—a technique only the Jocho, because of their Kuogan, could use."

That revelation took Tsunade's breath away. She clasped her hands to compose herself. "I feel that you already have your eyes on someone."

"Naomi and Hachiro Jocho are old people, older than the late Sandaime. The body was made on the spot. These two can't even walk without the help of someone, nowadays. I just put them on the list for possible conspiracy. Shizumaru Jocho is my primary suspect."

"I understand."

"I plan on gathering more evidence before I request for a man-hunt operation. I will do this alone so that spies won't have access to the information I will have collected. That's the first list is for, to keep them preoccupied." He stared at the list, especially at Shizumaru's name. "I got a feeling that now our enemies are more frightening than the Akatsuki we fought before."

Tsunade's attention reeled into another direction. Shikaku's exposition was one thing, but there was another issue she felt important, too. Sasuke. The name started to nag at her. She had been so negative when Sasuke was concerned. Could it be that Sasuke had gone and attacked Konoha to warn Naruto, or better still…to save him?

…

Kushina stood at the window, tying the drapes to let the sunlight into the room. She looked back at his son and admired his face. When she took his hand to start talking to him, as she had been doing for the past three days, Naruto stirred. Eventually he opened his eyes.

"Naruto!"

Naruto turned his head towards his mother. He frowned. "Mom?"

Kushina nodded.

Naruto sighed. "So it was all just a dream."

"What are you talking about?"

"I had a funny dream last night, Mom. In it I attained Shihai and everyone—" He stopped, looking intently at her ears. "Everyone left but you couldn't leave…" His eyes widened. He bolted up, pointing a finger at her. "Mom! Y-you're a wolf!"

"No. It's not what you think." And she told him everything she had learned from Baba. It took him almost five minutes to tell him everything. "Do you understand, now?"

"Somewhat."

Kushina searched his eyes.

"What's wrong, Mom?"

"You have all your memory? You don't feel like you've forgotten something?"

"No. Hashirama-sensei told me that my brain would function normally once I was out of Hensen no Kuusho. I remember everything. It's the reason I'm familiar with those ears and that tail. I met people who looked like you."

"Do I look weird?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, Mom. You're as pretty as always. I wish Dad was here, too. I wish he also had something to regret."

"Your Dad was always strong-minded. Whatever happened to him, he accepted it with perfect composure. He was always prepared to die. A dare-devil, in other words. A reckless man who thought that he was not as important as people thought him to be. Minato died with a smile on his lips. I was just forcing myself to smile that time. He was not. He had something I do not have, something only a pure hearted can have: unconditional faith."

"Yeah." Naruto smiled and Kushina couldn't help smiling back. He stretched, yawning. "Let's have breakfast, Mom. Then, afterwards, I'll explore what Shihai is really all about."

_To be continued…_


	30. Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30: Return to the Real World

Baba's house was a three-storey mansion made of seasoned wood. The architecture was simple, but its appearance bore something mystical a passing glance would not reveal.

Naruto and Kushina descended the stairs from the third floor and were met by Baba on the first floor.

Baba did her best to lower her head. "Naruto-sama, I'm glad that you've finally returned to consciousness. I want to apologize for touching you without your consent. I'm prepared for any punishment you want to inflict on me."

"There's no need for that. Your name is Baba-san, right?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, Naruto-sama. I'm at your service for eternity."

"Thank you for taking care of me and Mom."

"It's an honor for a lowly beast to hear those words from a summoner."

"Don't humble yourself, please. I'm not that special."

She just had to smile at Naruto's humility. "I apologize, then, and thank you." Baba stood up. "I want to show you something, Naruto-sama. Please, follow me."

Baba led them into a room in the basement that permitted sunlight through two channels in the ceiling. There was an altar at the center of the room. On the altar lay a white surfboard.

"Kushina-sama told me that you needed a surfboard. This board is made from Adam Tree, the principal wood used in shipbuilding in the old times."

Naruto ran a hand over the surfboard's surface, a broad smile on his face. "She's very beautiful."

"The best craftsmen of Inumura collaborated to carve her."

"I'm eternally indebted. Thank you very much."

…

Kushina then took Naruto to a room and told him to sit on a stool.

"We need to take care of your appearance first," she said.

Naruto had been unaware of his long black hair since he woke up inside the Holy Cave. Because the hair was one of the few parts in the body that didn't have chakra channels—one strand being small enough to be a channel itself—it needed to be cut manually. Even if he had maintained his hair short in the Hensen no Kuusho, his hair would remain long, physically, even if his muscles had already synchronized with his chakra appearance.

Naruto sat on the stool and Kushina began cutting his hair. As she worked on, they talked of inconsequential things, some of these they had already conversed about. The time went by unnoticed.

"Done," she announced and went to get a full-length mirror.

Naruto stared at the face staring back at him. He seemed to have grown older, two years perhaps. The blue of his eyes had become deeper. The shape of his head was now identical to Kushina's, giving him a somewhat feminine semblance. The whisker-like marks were gone. He looked at the hair of the man in the mirror. He grunted. It was the only thing he was upset about everything Hashirama had put him through. The only reminder of his father on him had disappeared. Five years, Hashirama had said. He couldn't help but sigh.

Kushina arrived after fetching something upstairs. "Naruto."

Naruto turned to her. Kushina held up a white long coat by its shoulders. It was similar in appearance to what his father used to have. The only difference was instead of red flame, flowing lines of light blue depicting lines of wind were embroidered at the hem. At the back of the long coat there was a soft orange spiral that had spun nine complete revolutions, his Mom's way of saying he was of the Uzumaki clan and the future Orange Hokage.

"Wow, Mom, this is so cool," he said. He put the coat on and went back in front of the mirror.

"It looks good on you, Naruto."

"Thanks, Mom!" He hugged her Mom and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm going out for a while to test my new surfboard. Do you want to join me?"

"No, thanks. I told you, right. I'm afraid of heights."

"Hmmm…okay. Will you watch me, then?"

"Sure."

Kushina escorted him out. The house was located on a hill and he saw the Capital Region below upon his exit. There was a thick forest of pines on the north and white-capped mountains to the south, barricading the Capital Region. Beyond those mountains was the Wolf District.

"I'm going, Mom," Naruto said. Being an expert in wind surfing now, he could fly even without preparation. He threw his surfboard in the air and jumped on it. He flew, his speed moderate at first, accelerating after a while. In a matter of seconds, he reached the lowest cloud cruising languorously above the hill. He did tricks a surfer like him would not be able to do on water. He looked down and saw his mother appreciating his show. He smiled. The main reason he had asked his mother to come out and watch him was…_I'll cure that fear._

He accelerated to a faster speed, went up to a higher height, and, abruptly, steered towards the ground, towards Kushina. The best painter in the world would not be able to paint her face even if he tried his best.

"Stop, stop…stop! Naruto!"

Naruto scooped her up with an arm. "Don't move too much, Mom, or you'll fall."

"You idiot! Put me down, now! Put me down, now, Naruto!"

Naruto didn't listen.

She was wailing, tears profusely flowing out her eyes. Her arms were tight around him and she was muttering her displeasure in his chest. When Kushina finally calmed down, Naruto decelerated.

"You taught me how to fly, but you are denying yourself the joy of seeing this," Naruto said.

"Put me down or I'll denounce you!"

"I want you to meet my friends, Mom. Help me apologize to them." He climbed up to higher altitude and couldn't stop smiling when Kushina let out a childish protest—the impish nature of the Fox at work, he didn't even know.

…

Setsuko didn't feel like eating. The food on the plate, despite the careful effort Haruki had put into making it, was unappealing to her. She was picking it with her hashi, the two sticks making dull _tink-tink _sound every time the pair struck the porcelain plate.

"I didn't know you wanted to see him _that_ badly," Kinjo said.

Setsuko looked up. "What?"

"Baba said that you could see him after he woke up."

"Any word from her?"

Kinjo was surprised. "That's rare. You're not denying it."

"I'm _really_ concerned, Father. It's been three days already."

"No word from her yet. She said she'd tell me right away when he came to."

"I hope nothing bad happened to him."

"Baba told me that there was nothing to worry about. He was merely adapting to his new power. He can't do that awake."

"But it's been three days."

Haruki went in from the kitchen, carrying a plate of sliced water melon. "Here are some sweet melons for you. I know what you're going through. The hunger of the heart is the most difficult to sate."

"Don't start, Mom." Haruki had become so close to her that the beautiful she-wolf insisted she called her Mom as she called Kinjo Father.

Haruki giggled. "I'm sorry, dear. I'm merely stating a fact."

"I'm not in love with him! How many times should I tell you that?"

Kinjo and Haruki looked at each other and laughed.

"Until we're sure," Haruki said.

Out of irritation, Setsuko snatched a slice of water melon and took a large bite. "Are you happy, now?" she mumbled. This only made Kinjo and Haruki laugh harder.

Setsuko almost choked when she saw a man and a woman descend from the sky on a surfboard. She grabbed the glass of water and downed it in one go. She ran outside. Kinjo rose from his seat and followed her.

"Baka!" the pretty woman with red hair yelled, hitting a black-haired young man with her fist. "Are you really trying to kill me, you idiot!"

"I'm sorry. I thought I could remove that fear by taking you up."

"Like hell you could!"

Setsuko couldn't take her eyes off the pair. The woman was a she-wolf with cute ears of pink fur and delicately shaped tail of light crimson hair. She wore a long dress that showed her lean but feminine figure.

The young man was taller than the she-wolf. He had deep blue eyes and a chiseled face. If someone fixed a pair of ears on his head, he would pass as a male wolf.

"Naruto-sama!" Kinjo blurted out.

She gasped. _That guy? Naruto?_ He had grown since the last time she saw him, the day she had requested Baba to stand-in for her in feeding Naruto. His face was more powerful, manlier now, but had a peculiar softness that bordered near femininity. His skin was tanned and seemed like glowing under the sun. She could not take her eyes off him for a while.

Now she shifted her attention on the woman. _Who is she? Don't tell me she is…_She gulped. The woman was really pretty, as pretty as her Mom Haruki, or even prettier. She was young, perhaps only in her late teens or early twenties. The clincher, she looked very intelligent and strong-willed, and despite her harsh words towards Naruto, she could see that the woman cared for him a lot.

She finally found her voice, but what came out her mouth was not the one she was planning to say. "So, you've finally found yourself a girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" the woman asked, giggling. She was not blushing. Naruto was the one doing that.

"What are you laughing for?" Setsuko asked.

The woman's face assumed an expression of pride. "Yes. I'm Naruto-sama's girlfriend, and we love each other very much."

"Stop it, Mom! Setsuko-san, don't listen to her, please."

_Mom? Mom?_ Setsuko could feel a vein throbbing in her forehead. She felt her muscles tensing underneath her skin. "Mom." She scoffed. "Nice. Naruto is Dad, right?"

"You're right about that."

Naruto got in between them. He threw a reprimanding look at the woman. "Mom, please. Setsuko-san, she's my biological mother."

Setsuko was incredulous. If that was true, the woman had gotten pregnant between the ages one to ten. She was so upset no other possibilities occurred to her. "This woman is your mother. Do you expect me to believe that?"

Naruto told her the abridged story behind the woman's existence. At first she didn't want to believe until Naruto asked her something.

"Setsuko-san, I don't understand why you are so concerned about me having a girlfriend."

Kushina, the name of the red-haired woman, was giggling so hard she had to embrace her stomach. "So this is one of your girls, eh," she said.

"Mom!"

"All right, all right, I'm sorry." The woman extended her hand to her. "I'm Uzumaki Kushina and what Naruto has told you is the truth."

Setsuko felt she could bite the woman to death without remorse, but she forced an apology out her mouth and accepted the shake. Kinjo invited Naruto and Kushina to his house.

As she spun around to follow them, a thought froze her. She tried to swat the thought away, but like a fly, it persisted. She had been denying it, all right, and whatever happened she would not make the first move. She first felt it inside the Holy Cave, but she knew deep inside that it all started when she learned that he had cut his arm and virtually thrown his life away to save her and Hiromi. Another thing that attracted her attention to him was his denseness. In her opinion, she had a face. Midori and Chiasa were also beautiful people. But there had not been a single time she saw Naruto looking at them with masculine interest._ Is he gay?_ In addition to that, just now, she had practically told him she liked him, but how did he react? _He asked why I was so concerned about him having a girlfriend._ That was good, anyway, she told herself. _Lifts a lot of pressure. _She exhaled through her mouth.

Looking at the white surfboard now leaning on the wall, she smiled.

…

Dai, in his twenty four years of life, had not been inside the Great Hall of the Divine even once. He became the heir to his father and, at his young age, was appointed Chief of Internal Affairs, one of the five most important divisions in the Monarchy of Nue. He stood in front of the Great Entrance, a heavy and glistening rectangular marble block.

Before asking to be let in, he checked his appearance on the surface of the marble. He had long black hair and his skin was so white it looked like alabaster. He was too slim to be considered normal and his height was above the average. Peering at his face, he decided that he was presentable enough to meet the Queen. He clanged the large brass ring on the marble.

The large marble grunted and it was so loud he had to cover his ears. A small gap through the center of the marble appeared. Cold air went out from inside and struck him, making him shiver.

"Come in," echoed a female voice from deep inside the colossal room.

"Your Majesty, it's an honor to be granted an audience in your court."

"You might as well come in. I don't like hearing words of flattery first thing in the morning."

"I'm sorry." As he stepped inside, a wave of nausea hit him. The room was filled with an aura so strong it seemed to form an imaginary hand that grabbed the stomach and made you retch. The Queen's authority was palpable, like a dense liquid surrounding the throne. He could feel it to his bones.

The Queen sat on a throne constructed high up on a pedestal of black stone that had living particles in it. The pedestal looked like a star-filled sky on a summer night. The Queen was behind a veil of expensive green silk, her silhouette being the only visage she let her servants to behold.

"Your Majesty," Dai said, kneeling before her.

"What is it you want of me?"

"My Queen, I am here to report that a total of fifty thousand forty four immigrants, or four thousand seventeen families, have just crossed the Bridge of Kurosaki this morning. The group of people came from Horan. They are the fourth batch of people to migrate from Kogiwara. My Queen, just last month, the Department of Agriculture reported a record of 32% decrease in rice supply while the demand for rice is rapidly increasing every day. An additional of fifty thousand people will be unbearable for the kingdom. Nue will starve if we accept the immigrants."

"Has Kagitora responded yet?"

"We are yet to hear from the King of Kogiwara, Your Majesty." Dai kept his face bowed, and he felt a bead of sweat flow down from his temple and clung on the tip of his nose. The Queen remained quiet for a long time. He had held up for fifteen minutes, his arms already numb from supporting his upper body's weight, before he heard the Queen's voice.

"If we accept the immigrants, how many months will it take before all of our supplies are consumed?"

"If there is no increase in production, we have nine months, Your Majesty."

"Listen carefully to my instructions for I will say them only once. First, hire more smiths and alchemists from all over Sanmyaku. In two months there should be a five hundred percent increase in their number. Second, increase the collection of floating rocks from Taka. A day of collection should be able to make one hundred ships. Third, alert every station in Nue. Every battalion should be ready for deployment any time of the day. Fourth, send a message to Taka requesting the Tsubasakage to honor a presence before me. Fifth, increase the border security by five battalions per station. Sixth, send twenty battalions each to the outskirts of Buxing and Xeinzhi. Seventh, send another letter to Kogiwara. In two weeks, if he doesn't give me a convincing explanation about this abrupt and baffling migration of his people, Nue will march and conquer Horan and Canto. Eight, I don't want to listen to hearsay. Bring me a trustworthy immigrant where I can get some answers. Ninth, recruit as many soldiers as you can. And finally, send in warriors to open the Narrow Path."

Dai was startled to hear that. "The Narrow Path? My Queen—"

"I know what you want to say. Ordinary soldiers will not be able to do this. Announce through out the kingdom that Her Majesty is giving a reward of ten thousand pieces of gold to anyone who will succeed."

Dai almost stood up in protest. Ten thousand pieces of gold was equal to a hundred million Ryu. His salary was only two thousand Ryu a day. Not that it mattered so much for Nue had an almost immeasurable reserve of gold, but the idea was so surreal he couldn't believe the Queen was serious in saying it.

"I don't care if they are criminals or fugitives of another country," the Queen went on. "You are only to forbid anyone under oath to the throne to accept."

"I understand, Your Majesty."

Dai exhaled when he was out of the Great Hall of the Divine. He was in awe. The way the Queen had laid out her instructions was commensurate to a god telling him what to do in an apparition. He just couldn't fail her. Her authority had promised him of a suffering he thought he would never be able to escape once he betrayed her trust. To describe the Queen as intelligent was an understatement. In just fifteen minutes, she had concocted in her mind possibilities and organized instructions to prepare Nue for war. She had even considered the opening of the Narrow Path. The Queen was sure that Kagitora would not reply. She knew that the Kingdom Wars would erupt a second time. In this case, having control of the Narrow Path would give Nue a decisive advantage.

He walked down the hall firm-jawed. He hadn't been shaken by a mortal before. This led him to believe the Queen was indeed a divine being.

In his office, he wrote down the instructions of his Queen. He would keep it and pass it down to his future generation. He stowed the document in a secret compartment and went on to fulfill Her Majesty's instructions.

…

Naruto bounced up and down on his toes. He had just finished warming up. Kinjo and Setsuko were standing a few meters from him. Naruto had asked them for a spar to test how strong he had become. Setsuko agreed right away for she also wanted to measure her current strength. Naruto told them he had trained for two years in Hensen no Kuusho so it would be better if Setsuko didn't fight him alone.

Naruto opted to fight without his surfboard.

"You better refrain from underestimating me," Setsuko said.

"Okay," Naruto said.

"It had better be the truth."

"Let's start, Naruto-sama," Kinjo said.

Naruto nodded.

Naruto was amazed when Setsuko formed hand seals with a blinding speed. Her level of doing it was almost that of a Kage's.

"Sage Mode," Setsuko yelled. Two pairs of long red streaks appeared on her cheeks and another two appeared beside these. Her ears became pointed.

Naruto launched himself towards Setsuko and in an instant he was in front of her. Setsuko's eyes widened. He knew that she was not expecting him to be that fast. Training with inhuman shinobis had forced him to attain such speed.

He spun and sent a kick to her. It connected to her face. Setsuko skidded thirty meters away from him.

She was unscathed. A metal-like liquid receded from her left cheek. "You are blindingly fast."

A surge of excitement hit Naruto and he smiled. He had to admire the beautiful girl in front of her. They smiled at each other. "You've grown strong," he said.

"Yes. I've never been idle while you were gone."

Naruto began his attack again.

Setsuko formed hand seals. "Iron Release: Pandemonium!"

The ground shook and sharp iron spikes grew out from it, going for Naruto. Naruto dodged every spike that grew underneath him, sometimes just barely evading a point.

Naruto created a Kage Bunshin, jumped, and instructed his clone to throw him towards Setsuko. He rocketed down with a Rasengan in one hand. As he thrust the ball forward, a rounded metal plate grew from beneath to shield Setsuko. The strength of the metal plate went against the Rasengan's devastating force. Sparks emanated from the contact.

A metal chain shot out from the ground and wound around Naruto's waist. Naruto struggled to get away from the chain, but Setsuko didn't give him the time. She attacked from his side.

Naruto stopped struggling and caught Setsuko's arm. He could feel her hard muscles. The girl had truly been working hard.

He pulled her to him, the surroundings in slow motion in his perspective. Her torso came forward, defenseless and exposed for attacks. In contrast to Setsuko's belief that he didn't show any interest in the female figure, he was somewhat uneasy being in front of her breasts. He looked down and focused his attention to her stomach. Setsuko saw that.

"Wind Release: Dreadful Gust!" Naruto struck Setsuko with both his palms, hurling her towards a tree.

Kinjo was just watching the entire time. "Naruto-sama, what I'm about to do is an act of insolence and I will accept any punishment from you. Please, be true to your word. Setsuko has trained hard for this. It will be an insult if you will fight us half-heartedly."

Hearing that, Naruto remembered his fight with Tobirama.

"Kushina-sama assured us that she could heal any damage that we would sustain in this fight," Kinjo went on. "This is not your true strength. I know it for sure."

Naruto breathed a lungful. _I'm doing it again._ "I'm sorry," he said. "I'll fight you seriously, then."

Naruto removed his long coat and shirt, showing his impeccably chiseled body. His muscles were not largely built, but they had hardness eyes could recognize. The ridges between his muscles were so pronounced he looked as if he was not wearing any skin. The tribal-styled markings of Reverse Hakke Fuin Seal only increased his menacing presence. Naruto momentarily closed his eyes and when he opened them, he was in Sage Mode. He disappeared.

If a while ago, he had not been tapping on his chakra too much, now he was not withholding anything. Kinjo and Setsuko were surprised when they saw that each of them had one Naruto to defend against.

…

_One is a clone!_ Setsuko thought. She was somewhat sure that the real Naruto would be attacking her, and because of Kinjo's speech, she knew she had to be careful. Naruto spun and sent a punch. Like before, she summoned a metal plate from the ground to defend herself. A glint of light materialized in the center of her metal shield and the next thing she knew, the upper part of the shield was gone. The stump formed a segment of a circle, its edge smooth, as if it had been cut by a blade of tremendous sharpness.

"Reverse Rasengan," Naruto muttered.

"Iron Release: Iron Lava!" Setsuko opened her mouth and vomited out glowing molten lava at Naruto. She thought she hit Naruto, but it was only his after image.

"Fuujin no Jutsu: Eien no Chinmoku." _Wind God Art: Eternal Silence_—a technique where Naruto used his chakra to bind the particles of air around and inside his target, inducing damage ranging from paralysis to death depending on how long he sustained the technique. There was no defense. It could only be avoided. This was one of Naruto's strongest original techniques.

Setsuko's eyes widened as all the sound disappeared around her. The suddenness of it left her feeling numb and disoriented. She couldn't even breathe. She couldn't feel her chakra and not even a high-pitched ringing sound was there to give her some form of relief. It was like being dead. Her knees buckled and she would have crashed to the ground if Naruto did not support her shoulders.

Naruto smiled. "I won."

The gavel fell. She lost. She had grown strong, but Naruto was out of her league yet. She wondered what kind of training he had been through. Naruto lifted her into his arms and she let him. Before she closed her eyes, she promised to herself that she would train harder.

…

"If that was not a sparring, we would have been killed," Kinjo said. He was in the living room with Kushina, Haruki, and Setsuko. Naruto was outside and fighting with his clones. "His speed alone was enough to defeat me. He was clearly an overmatch even for the both of us."

"He was not that fast in Hensen no Kuusho," Kushina said.

"It's because of Shihai, right?" Haruki said.

"Yes. The speed he used against you, in my observation, is five times faster."

"It's mortifying. Our fight only lasted five minutes," Setsuko said, not able to raise her head.

Kushina rubbed Setsuko's back. "Come on. In Hensen no Kuusho, Naruto was able to train for two years. Kinjo-san told me that you had just discovered your bloodline limit and have been training for only over a month. I was impressed with your performance."

"Even so. It makes me feel small."

Kushina leaned in and whispered, "My son blushed once in your fight, you know, when he was chained."

Setsuko blushed upon hearing this. She had seen that, too. "That doesn't mean anything."

Kushina shrugged. "Think what you want. I'm his mother."

Setsuko glanced at Kushina, inquiringly.

"Hashirama-sama instructed my son to follow them to Tanimori once he woke up," Kushina said. "We'll be leaving tomorrow."

"I understand," Haruki said. "I'll prepare something special for dinner."

Kinjo stood up. "I'm going to tell Baba about this."

…

Naruto was amazed of himself. It may sound cruel, but by fighting Kinjo and Setsuko, he was able to measure how much the Fox's chakra had increased his strength. The Reverse Rasengan, a Rasengan that had an inward spin, used five times as much chakra as his ordinary Rasengan. However, he had not felt the drain from his reserves when he used it to evaporate Setsuko's shield. His Eternal Silence should have frozen him for three seconds, a prerequisite as his chakra gates closed for a while to accommodate the chakra demand of the technique, but in his fight, he had not frozen. It had been a habit of his to count how many seconds he used to approach his target, and basing on his count, he was now_ seven_ times faster. He had managed to evade a long range attack in close range and in his eyes everything had been still. His chakra output had also been stable even though he was not using any hand seals to execute his techniques. And lastly, his Imperishable Kage Bushin Technique had been perfect. In Hensen no Kuusho, he had not been able to severe the thread of oneness from his clone, causing it to sometimes synchronize with his motion. However, in his sparring, his clone had fought Kinjo, independently, and won.

_So this was Shihai_, he thought. _And I'm only at the entrance._

…

Hashirama had already been travelling for three days now. He totally ignored his basic needs like drinking, eating, and sleeping. He had only stopped once to urinate and it never happened again. He knew what would happen if Kushina's _spirit_, not simply her chakra, stayed inside Naruto's body. Naruto would die.

It had been a hasty departure. He was certain who the spy in his team was, but he couldn't do a thing. Naruto's life was in danger. _Hibarashi-dono, I'm counting on you._

Chinzu, the province where the Temple of the Descending Dragon was located, was nine-days away from Tanimori in normal mode of travelling. With his speed, he could reach it in four days, and he was only a day away. He prayed to the gods that the wolves had a remedy for Naruto's situation, even temporary. When he arrived, he would destroy Kushina's spirit. That was the only way. Without exceptions like Hensen no Kuusho, only one spirit could live inside a body. It was a universal law, a law that required a large toll if broken.

Prior to this, seeing it as a one in a million chance, Chiasa had left the Hibarashi State to meet with someone.

…

Aika yawned and stretched her arms in the doorway of the temple. The bubbly Hyuuga girl with short white hair, a cute face, and a petite body looked energetic today. They had arrived two days ago at the Temple of the Descending Dragon. She had been the most eager to see Naruto, always first to wake up in the morning to check if he finally arrived.

She looked to her left and to her right. The courtyard was quiet. "Okay." She opened her small mouth and sucked in air. She spread her stance and heaved, "Good Morning—"

There was a subdued explosion. A thick mass of smoke materialized at the center of the court. Aika's heart skipped a beat as she made out three silhouettes, two of them women. She craned her neck and gulped.

"At last, we're back in the real world," said a man's voice.

When the smoke cleared, Aika let out a shriek. "Naruto-onii-chan!" She ran down the stairs, leaping up towards Naruto. She got hold of his face and kissed him in the mouth. They both fell on the solid ground.

Naruto was bewildered. Kushina was intrigued. Setsuko was burning in rage.

_To be continued…_


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Shitto's Attack

The small farewell party had gone well, and Setsuko thought it was a sign that before they arrived at Tanimori, everything would go smoothly. She hadn't expected this. The white haired girl had the potential to grow up into a lady of beauty men would consider seriously. She had pampered skin and the perfection of a doll. She could even notice the pink on her cheeks, which told of her youth and health. _Damn it! _It was not right, but she wanted to pull the girl away from Naruto and bite her neck.

As she continued to lose herself, Kushina's warm hand enfolded her arm. She calmed down and eventually noticed what Kushina was trying to tell her. The girl was crying on Naruto's chest. The scene burned the anger in her chest and now she could breathe.

"Hey, Setsuko-chan, do I look normal?" Kushina said. She was pertaining to her tail and ears. Baba had told her that the pod would adopt her original appearance once she was outside of the wolves' realm.

"Yes," Setsuko said.

Kushina touched the place where her ears had been. "Those ears looked cute though."

Naruto consoled the girl, apologizing while trying to cheer her up. There Setsuko realized how young the girl was. Asking herself of who the girl might be, she noticed the forehead protector wrapped around her upper arm. It bore the emblem she had seen on Naruto's forehead protector.

"You're from Konoha?" Setsuko asked.

"I'm sorry I forgot to introduce myself," the girl said. "I'm Hyuuga Aika of Hyuuga Special Search Squad. Yes. I'm from Konoha."

Setsuko introduced herself and Kushina did the same. Aika almost lost her footing when she learned that the woman with red hair was Naruto's mother. Hastily, she went down to prostrate, stating something a girl of her age should not say, lest she wanted to be labeled a prankster or a desperate soul. Not liking a bit of it, Naruto pulled Aika up and reprimanded her.

"We're not engaged, Mom," Naruto said. "Ignore her."

"Just wait. I'll grow up soon."

"Oh, please, grow up _now._" To relieve some of the effect of his bluntness, he added, "I can list the names of those who like you, Aika. They could easily amount to a hundred."

"Then you should be happy that someone like me _loves _you!"

Setsuko saw how Naruto flinch when he heard that. It was clear that he could stop Aika's impulsive admiration for him for all eternity by a single line, but he didn't want to hurt the young girl. That notion pulled Setsuko's eyes down to her feet. Maybe he could kill the small bud of infatuation she felt for him before it fully bloomed by using the same single line. In an instant, she was grateful that Naruto was kind enough to keep it to himself.

"I appreciate it, Aika. Honest. But…"

"Naruto has no time for other commitments, Aika-chan," Kushina said. "Getting stronger is the only thing in his head right now."

Setsuko exhaled in relief. It was nice that Kushina was there to make one side let go of the tensed rope.

"Damn it," muttered a voice coming from the temple's entrance. "I thought you really died, you asshole." The one speaking was a weird young man with coconut-shell hair and green cover-alls. Beside him were a long haired pretty boy, an intimidating baldy, and a sweet looking oriental beauty.

Naruto led the way up to the entrance.

"Hi. I'm Rock Lee," the man in the green cover-alls said, extending his hand. Setsuko accepted it. "These are Hyuuga Neji, Inuzuka Katsuo, and Tenten."

Setsuko had only one impression of them: they were people whom she would never defeat in her current strength. She couldn't even feel their chakra or it was more of suppressed. _It's like I'll be more of a burden to them. _She looked at Naruto. _They are worthy of being with him._

Neji seemed to notice her frustration. "I can sense that your body is having a hard time coping with your bloodline limit. Your gates are newly opened, am I right?"

"How did you know that I have a bloodline limit?"

"I specialize on aspects revolving around chakra. Do you want me to help you stabilize your chakra flow?"

Setsuko looked at Naruto again and received a reassuring smile in return. "Does it take long—" The strikes were so fast she barely saw them.

Neji retrieved his hand. "It's done. How do you feel?"

Setsuko groped her body. "What did you do?"

"A basic non-surgical operation that frees the joints of your chakra gates."

She lifted her hands. The flow of her chakra became smooth, and the irritating feeling beneath her skin caused by its unstable current disappeared. "It's unbelievable. The itch disappeared."

"As it should," Neji said. "You were making this frightened expression that somehow you felt out of place. You must not. We're here as a group and we will rely on you as much as you rely on us. This idiot taught me that," he said, pointing at Naruto.

Setsuko looked down, a little embarrassed. "I'm not that strong."

"This guy," Neji said, pertaining to Lee, "doesn't know anything other than Taijutsu. This guy," he said, pertaining to Naruto, "didn't know anything other than Kage Bunshin no Jutsu until he went training with Jiraiya-sensei. Look, Setsuko-san, strength doesn't matter much in a fight. You might even be stronger than Shikamaru in terms of physical prowess, but I can assure you that you'll never be able to defeat him."

"All he's trying to say is he likes you and you should feel comfortable being with us, especially being with him," Tenten said with a hint of teasing.

It didn't affect Neji. "Eventually, you would have learned it as you acquired experience, but it is considered time consuming nowadays. Young ones in Konoha, who decide to be a ninja, undergo this type of operation."

"I appreciate it. Thank you."

"Naruto," Zuko said, appearing behind them. "Welcome back."

Naruto was about to smile, but he saw the chakra-sucking beads in the monk's hands and he drooped. The glint of the razor blade came next. Naruto cringed and, using his surfboard, flew away from the temple.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He has developed an aversion to razors since that fateful day," Setsuko said.

"Ah, this? I was shaving."

…

"I thought you would shave my head again," Naruto said. He, together with his friends, his Mom, and Zuko, sat at a low table where ramen and tea had been served.

Zuko laughed. "There's no point in doing that now, but it's sad we weren't able to finish our training. Anyway, the beads have no use to you anymore since you've attained Shihai. However, since Setsuko is a newbie, she has to wear it." He grinned at Setsuko with pride. "Setsuko-chan's got used to it at once. Now this is a girl who has tremendous potential."

Naruto sighed in relief. "That's good to hear. When are we leaving for Tanimori?"

"Yuudai dropped me a message. Hashirama-sama instructed us to wait for him. He will pick us up. He wrote down that he might be arriving tomorrow."

"Is Tanimori that close?"

"Actually it's not if you're travelling normally. The message seemed to convey something urgent. I don't know what it is, but for Hashirama-sama to state that he would arrive in four days from Tanimori only means that something might have happened. I just pray to the gods that Tsuneo-san and his family are all right."

There was a long silence.

"Don't worry," Aika said, sipping some tea. "If something had happened, that person would not have left those people alone."

"Aika is right," Neji said. "The logical reason he's hurrying to get to us is either to prevent something from happening or to fix something he might have forgotten to deal with before he left. But it is _here _and it is _us._ Whoever is on the other side is safe; else I will condemn him a traitor of the Shinobi Code."

Zuko was smiling as he sipped his tea, obviously pleased with the Hyuugas' sharpness.

"Cheer up! Youth will be wasted on you if you continue making that face!" Lee blurted out.

Naruto released the culmination of anxiety out his mouth and smiled. "You're right. Hashirama-sensei won't leave them alone without a valid reason."

_This kid has good friends, _Zuko thought. _Optimistic and, unquestionably, tremendously talented. _

"Let's change topic. Naruto, Tsunade-sama wanted us to tell you this," Tenten said. "There's a big possibility that Sasuke is still alive."

Naruto froze. "What?"

"His body was not found."

"Is that true?"

"The Central Intelligence Division is currently investigating this matter, but Shikaku-san was already certain that if Sasuke had died, Madara wouldn't have had the slightest interest in him anymore. He already has his brother's eyes. Any set of eyes would be okay, but another set of Sharingan would have adverse effects on him. As it was, Madara would have just left Sasuke for us to find."

It took a while before Naruto absorbed everything, and when he did, he shivered. "Excuse me," he said, his voice cracking. "Excuse me for a minute." He stood up on wobbly legs and went out of the temple. The echo of his yell, a yell of happiness, indisputably, brought reverberations through the nerves of those who could hear that made them unable to help smiling.

When he got back inside, they talked about the wormhole, about how Tsunade had known of his location, about the selection for the five-man team, etcetera, but his mind kept on falling back on Sasuke. The discussion ended and he had heard nothing.

…

The forest was dark—a typical choice of the man Chiasa was meeting. The falls two hills away splashed its water with all its might and the distance was not a problem for its splashy sound to reach Chiasa's ears. The fog prickled the skin of the beautiful Uchiha. It made her shiver as did the prospect of meeting with the despicable man. At times like this, she would have appreciated being with someone, someone reliable like Reiko or strong like Hashirama or loyal like Zuko. Her hand found its way to the crystal pendant hanging from her neck. _Even that guy._

The ambience changed, making her alert. _He's here._

"Good morning, Chiasa. I've waited a long time."

The voice was enough to ignite her heart to pump in cold blood through her veins. She felt her palms and soles begin to sweat. "I…"

"That is a nice amulet. Where did you get it?" A voice without inflection. Reiko's way of speaking was music compared to it.

"It's none of…"

"Where did you get it, Chiasa?"

"I bought it." She looked away. There was no reply. _Shit, shit, shit! _"All right! Someone gave this to me."

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Chiasa almost choked. _How much does this bastard know? _"How…?"

"He was the last owner of that keepsake after Tsunade of the Senju. I want to know about him. Tell me."

"He's nothing special. You're here to ask me about the heiresses. Let's get to the point."

"This is the second time, Chiasa."

"You bastard!"

"You are my slave." A few meters away from her, a slate of glass grew out from the ground. Inside the glass, an image appeared, the image of someone so dear to her.

"Aki! I apologize. Please, I beg you. I'll tell you everything I know." And she did.

"Interesting. A Jinchuuriki, you say? There are nine Jinchuurikis in all. Two are still at large. One being here must be because of a wormhole and tremendous luck. Hmmm…And the heiresses?" She told him without so much as a pause of hesitation. "Good. This ends our meeting, then."

As Chiasa shifted her gaze towards the girl in the mirror, it shattered into fine dust. "Aki!" Her five-point Sharingan showed as she glared at the man in the shadows.

The man chuckled. "Don't make any rash moves just because you want to save your sister. You are only my eyes. If you get caught, not only that they will kill you, Aki will die as well."

The anger gripping her was painful to bear. It almost shattered her composure. But to let it happen meant her and her sister's death.

"Ah, that reminds me. Your blonde friend was too reckless. It makes me shiver to think what have become of her now. Regrettable. She seemed to have succulent flesh worthy of my dinner." He chuckled, and then his presence faded and eventually disappeared.

_Reiko…_She let her tears flow. That was the only relief her solitude could give. No one would see her in her weakest. Every one of them, just every one, was a reincarnation of evil.

She clutched the crystal, suddenly the only thing that gave her strength to hang for dear sanity. Seeing her sister crushed her heart. And now, hearing Reiko's misfortune nearly tore it apart._ Naruto-san, if you really are what Hashirama-sensei asserted you to be, please, do a miracle for Reiko and my sister. Please. _

She gripped the amulet too hard and the blood that oozed out her palm seemed to be the crystal's answer.

…

Naruto went to the temple's garden with a smile on his face. He just couldn't get enough of the news about Sasuke. He stood in front of the cherry tree and watched as it shed its magnificent blossoms, fluttering slowly down, riding gravity, defying time's call for them to hurry.

"So pretty," a woman said.

Naruto turned around and saw Tenten approaching. She wore her hair in a cascade and her tan was pleasing to look at. If before he had been two inches smaller than her, now he was an inch taller. She approached in small steps, chest thrust out, arms swaying with soft grace he had never seen them do three years before. He could detect a lot of new things about her because she was his closest female friend other than Sakura.

"You've grown thin," he said.

She continued to approach until her chest touched his, and then she gave him a hug. "You're really an expert on making us worry."

"I'm sorry. You can hit me if you like—" A fast slap landed on his cheek.

Tenten crossed her arms over her chest, turning to lean against the tree's trunk. "Bah, should've made it into a fist. Sakura would have stabbed you with a kunai."

Naruto laughed as he rubbed his burning cheek. "You never change."

"That's the burden you have to live with for making me open up to you."

"I know, but wouldn't it be better if you tried opening up to other people? We are shinobis, and any time we could die. You've been with Lee and Neji for ages. How come you still treat them with severe formality?" He leaned forward with mischief in his eyes. "I know you like Neji. Want me to be the bridge between the two of you?"

Tenten blushed furiously. "It's none of your business, okay! Besides, he will never be interested in me. He's a Jyuuken-sei, for crying out loud, while I…" She sighed.

Naruto pecked her forehead with his forefinger. "I thought you wanted to adopt my way of thinking, huh? What's this self-pitying all about then?"

"It's not easy being an idiot, you know."

A vein lightly kicked in his temple. "And I was about to tell you that you've grown prettier, too."

"What's that, a consolation? I don't need it, Uzumaki Naruto-san."

"You're prettier."

"Stop it."

Naruto had that impish smile, again. "But you are."

"Haha."

"Now that's cute and I think I just fell in love with you."

He gauged her reaction. The composure in her eyes seemed solid, but every now and then there was a flicker of confusion and disbelief in them. Suddenly, she smiled. She reached out and pinched his cheeks.

"As if. Get over Sakura first and I'll think it over," she said.

Naruto chuckled. He lay on the grass, putting his hands behind his head and looking up to watch the white clouds cruising under the belly of the blue sky. Tenten lay beside him.

"Yeah. Sakura," he said.

"What if I gave up on Neji, you gave up on Sakura, and let it just be the two of us?"

Naruto turned his head on Tenten with a curious expression. Tenten was looking away a little. The wind caressed their faces, sharing with them the fragrant smell of grass where it had passed through.

"Hmmm…"

Tenten finally turned her face on him. Their eyes locked for a brief moment, and then they laughed.

When the surge of joy subsided, Naruto said, "Where was that again, the place where Sakura and the others are?"

"It is called Taka, one of the kingdoms here in Sanmyaku."

"Taka, eh. I wonder if it's close from here."

"If you use your surfboard, distance will not matter that much."

"I guess so."

They let the silence for a few moments.

"So peaceful," Tenten sighed. "Definitely a bad omen."

"Let's decide if it is when it comes." He yawned.

"It's really a day which makes you want to take a nap."

"Sorry."

"Go ahead. I might as well take some, too."

Before he knew it, he nodded off, a smile lingering on his lips.

Tenten sat up. "Neji, eh." She was about to stand up when her eyes fell again on his face. "How did you get that face? Sigh. Always, always, you always give me something to be troubled about." After some thought, she decided to stay, putting her head on his stomach. "It'd be easier if it was you, stupid." She closed her eyes and a pink petal landed on her nose. The wind carried it up again, and then laid it down on her soft lips.

…

Naruto woke up when he felt his bladder threaten to burst…or something else. He dismissed the latter. In this peaceful night, nothing bad would happen. At least, that was what the surroundings seemed to be.

On his way to the bathroom, a silhouette caught the periphery of his vision. He jerked his head to its direction and saw the silhouette of a woman there.

"Who—"

The woman stepped forward. "Naruto?"

"Tenten?" He sighed. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Still afraid of ghosts, I see."

_Ghosts?_ "Yeah. Being dark and all." Slowly, he groped for his kunai.

"Yes. Ghosts usually appear at this time of night." Tenten dropped her left hand. "Ghosts like us!"

The wall behind Naruto burst inward. Naruto tried to turn, but Tenten had started to attack him, too. He had no time to think.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

His clone stopped the assailant behind him while he busied himself with Tenten. He caught Tenten's wrists.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto asked.

Tenten's countenance became grim. "Someone who will hate it if you survive." She kicked him away from her. Naruto skidded away. "Now, die!"

"Sage Mode."

Tenten yelled as she dashed towards Naruto.

"I hate it when someone uses my friend's appearance to do wrong things." His speed was incredible.

Tenten flew across the hallway, crashed through the wall, and ended up sprawling on the courtyard of the temple. The transformation technique lost its effect and the true face of the assailant was revealed. It was one of Hashirama's shinobis. The man's forehead protector with the emblem of a tree gleamed under the moonlight.

His clone also defeated the other assailant. It was another of Hashirama's shinobis.

"What is going on?" he muttered.

"Naruto? I heard a commotion…" Kushina frowned. "What's going on?"

Naruto was kneeling beside the second assailant, checking for a pulse. He shook his head. "He's dead."

"Isn't he one of the temple's guards?"

"Yes, Mom. There were two of them." He indicated the hole in the wall his attack had created. "I don't understand, either."

Zuko came running from outside. "Is everyone okay?"

Naruto nodded.

"Wake up everybody—"

"You don't need to do that," Neji said, coming from the corner to join them. "We heard the commotion, too."

Zuko looked incredulously at the corpse of the shinobi. "Shitto must be nearby."

"Shitto?" Naruto remembered what Hashirama had told them. _Always pay attention to the person next to you. Always think that our enemy can preserve the normal functions of a human body. The person next to you might already be a walking corpse._

"I fought with Kagari a few moments ago," Zuko went on. "We need to give them a proper burial." The pain of having to tell about his friends' burial showed on his face.

"Naruto!" Tenten called from outside. "Come out, quick!"

Naruto exchanged a concerned look with the persons around him.

"Let's go," Zuko said.

They burst out of the temple. Upon seeing the scene, they let out a collective gasp. Hundreds of walking corpses were surrounding the temple. Some were already just bones. Some were just beginning to decompose. Some still had bodies good for living.

"The one with blue eyes, this is for you," one of the able-bodied corpses said. "_He_ wants you on his side. He's interested in you. We will be pulled back if you go with us."

A moment of silence.

"Naruto refuses," Tenten said. "Tell that pervert not to underestimate us."

"There are a thousand of us here and below this place. You do not stand a chance."

Tenten was about to open her mouth when the head of the corpse suddenly disintegrated. Its body fell forward with a dull thud.

"I elect that talking to corpses is one of the most disgusting experience I would ever entertain," Lee said, whipping his arm to get rid of the pungent flesh clinging on his fist.

Zuko smiled, impressed with Lee's speed. _He attacked that corpse and went back beside us inside the length of a single second. This brat's speed is something._

Shitto, who was sitting on the edge of a cliff far away from the temple, let out an intrigued "Oh."

"Enough talking," Aika said. "You don't know how traumatic it is for us to have to accept onii-chan's death. We won't let a single one of you touch a strand of his hair, you understand?"

A corpse of a young man stepped forward. "My, my. Such passionate love. I assume that every girl here loves the kid and the boys are but a bunch of homos who feel the same."

A kunai hit the corpse's forehead and the explosion tag went off. The fire engulfed four other cadavers. The kunai was Tenten's.

"Katsuo," Tenten whispered.

"I can't detect him. I can't get passed the smell of decay," Katsuo said.

"Byakugan!" Neji scanned the area. _Damn it. Where is he? Is he that far away that my Byakugan can't see him?_

"What do you see?" Tenten asked.

"Nothing. I see the chakra strings attached on every corpse, but he's controlling them from a place very far from here."

"Then let's just follow where the strings are coming from."

"That's the problem. The strings stretch in every direction. There is not a single point where the strings converge."

"I haven't heard anything like that before," Kushina said. "How is that possible? Even a master puppeteer will have difficulty in controlling this large number of units from a distance a pair Byakugan can't reach. Still, he can create an intricate web to hide his location. What kind of monster are we dealing with?"

"Have you heard about Sennins?" Zuko said. "Unfortunately, we're dealing with one. Sennins always do that, intimidate opponents even if they are only demonstrating a small percentage of their power. I've fought with Shitto before. I don't want to lower your morale, but he is very strong."

"Nice, nice. Finally, a challenge!" Lee blurted out, punching a fist in his palm.

Zuko whirled at them. "What?"

"Yeah. I haven't had the chance to try how much I've improved," Tenten said. She released her circle blade from its leather holder on her back. "Let's get it on."

Zuko shook his bald head. "These people…"

"Someone should find Shitto's location," Naruto said. "Even if these…these people are already dead, they once lived a life the same as ours. I can't stand this. No person should be allowed to use other people, especially…especially if they can't do anything to resist it."

"I know how you feel," Lee said, standing akimbo. "But it can't be helped. Look at the first one I attacked." The body without head slowly stood up and got back in line with the other corpses. "Only those whom Tenten burned are completely incapacitated."

"I understand. Can you hold them off while I search for Shitto?"

"You can count on us," Lee said. The others nodded with confidence painted on their faces.

"Your discussion, isn't it over, yet?" another corpse said. "We need a clear answer from—"

"My answer is no," Naruto declared. "And _you_, I will find you and stop this madness."

"Then it's decided," the corpse said. "_I_'ll take you by force."

"Then try." Naruto raised his hand and his surfboard flew out from the window in his room. He leaped towards his surfboard and when he secured his footing on its face, he yelled, "Take care. I'll not be long."

"Mou, we should be the one bidding him that," Kushina said. "Well, Naruto is Naruto."

"Man, he could have just run back to his room to get his surfboard," Zuko said. "If he knew how expensive a plate of glass was, he would have thought twice."

"We can think of that, later," Neji said. "Right now, we have a more important issue to think of."

The corpses made a collective smirk, conveying Shitto's gesture of mocking their, in his opinion, futile effort at resistance.

Naruto flew under the deep purple sky, vigilant for any anomaly. With Sage Mode he felt anomalies as long as it was within range, a maximum of two hundred and fifty meters. If he could, he wanted to stop it—the madness—as soon as possible, but as it was, it might be very difficult to do.

Shitto sneered when he felt him coming. "Come on. Let me understand why I tingle inside when I see you."

_To be continued…_


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32: His Reinforcement's Strength

Naruto looked down at the dense forest below. Thousands of corpses were everywhere, slowly marching now towards the temple. He was sure they were warriors of long ago by the armors they wore. How were they summoned? By tags? By scrolls?

"Shitto! Show yourself!"

A corpse turned its head at him and attacked. It skillfully climbed up a tree and leaped to Naruto from a large branch. He easily kicked the corpse away, but then five more came at him from different directions. The movements of the corpses were refined, undoubtedly trained in their past lives to be experts in their fields of fighting. Naruto had difficulty fighting two of them which used swords. After he defeated the corpses, he decided to increase altitude. He thought that his problems were over, but a barrage of arrows volleyed in his direction. He maneuvered to evade the deadly points.

_Damn it! I'm sorry. I have no choice. _"Fuujin no Jutsu: Kamikaze!" A clone riding a duplicate of his surfboard appeared and charged down at the group of archers. _I'm sorry._ _Whoever you are, please forgive me._ The clone hit and exploded massively, scorching more or less thirty corpses. He looked up. Corpses where scurrying up the long stair to the temple, up the face of the hill, up the roots of the trees that had thrust out the soil. "Fuujin no—" A thought suddenly stopped him from executing the technique.

"Your original techniques are surely devastating, but they also give your body a lot of strain," the Third had told him. "Even if you successfully attain Shihai, it is still dangerous. It is understandable that you'll have an almost infinite supply of chakra, but your cells are not that of a god's. Remember this, Naruto-kun. Use those techniques if nothing simpler can achieve your objective."

Lee's confident grin flashed in his mind. "You can count on us."

_I'll be counting on you guys, then._ He looked behind him._ I should find Shitto fast._ When he tried to turn, using the springs in his knees, pain wrenched his thighs and he almost lost balance. _Ojii-chan is right. If I use strong techniques so early on, I'll be a sitting duck soon, even though the pain is not that excruciating as what I had in Hensen no Kuusho. _He closed his eyes and sighed. With a soft kick on the wind, he surged forward.

…

Corpses attacked in hordes, using their numbers to conquer the small group of shinobis trying to find a route of escape.

Arrows came flying from below.

"Get behind me!" Zuko ordered. He looked up at the descending rods of death. "Concave!" The arrows hit something invisible and suddenly their direction changed. They slid down in the air and impaled the corpses climbing up the stair.

"My turn!" Lee said. He dashed forward, yelling. With a knee he bashed the head of a corpse. He pulverized the torso of another by a back hand strike, tore another in two by a shin kick to the hip, and felled seven in a whirl kick directed to the jaw. When he got enough space and his distance was far enough from his comrades, he jumped up towards the sky. It was too high even for a master martial artist. He shot up seven hundred meters from the ground. Spreading his arms, he stiffened his muscles until he felt that they would burst. Vibrations seared through his body. "Energy Gate, open!" In an instant, his skin became red. Veins bulged out around his wrists. "Konohagakure Full Beads Fist Technique: Deep Impact!" He pulled his arms together in seemingly great difficulty and when his inner wrists touched, a crater appeared on the ground and the corpses inside its area were crushed like ants. He landed on the center of the crater. He annihilated an estimated eighty corpses.

"Seventy…eighty…ninety…one hundred. Now you're inside my range. Divine Fist, Eight Trigrams Style: Ashura!" In Neji's mind, a big circle was created around his targets and eight smaller circles were around it; the symbol for Yin and Yang was inscribed in every circle. Six extra arms of chakra grew out his back. His targets were all frozen in his perspective. With a tap of his foot, he disappeared and appeared at the opposite end of where he had been. Each of the corpses within the range of Ashura fell with big holes in their chests and missing limbs and heads. This attack was one hundred percent accurate and Neji used this against very fast enemies. This improvisation of his Eight Trigrams Three Hundred Sixty Four Hits he had learned from sparring with Lee. The only weakness of Ashura was it made him temporarily blind for three seconds.

"Neji-san, behind you!" Setsuko yelled. "What are you doing? Get out from there!" Two corpses were now on a rush with blades raised to decapitate Neji.

"Where?" Neji asked.

"Iron Release: Iron Swarm!" Rain of iron needles stormed the bodies of the two corpses and they fell forward lifeless a second time in their existence.

_I cannot stop here!_ Setsuko closed her eyes to focus her chakra for her next attack. "Iron Release: Apocalypse!" This was the attack Kinjo had warned her about, but because of her desperate wish to be a help to her comrades, she decided to use it. Instantly, the color of her eyes turned into lifeless gray.

"Apocalypse is the last technique that you should resort to," Kinjo had told her. "It's the Suigin Clan's ultimate technique. It is strong, yes, but it's very dangerous for the user. Be careful. The technique is a combination of your Iron Release and extreme dimensional distortion skills. It cannot be done easily and the only way to do so is to submit yourself under the spirit of the Suigin blood in you. I don't want that to happen. I don't want you doing that. You might not only endanger yourself, you might also endanger the people around you…"

"If I don't try, Father," Setsuko muttered, "I can't be with him. I don't want to be protected forever." She cried to let up the pain burning under her skin. Her bloodline began to do its work.

"The Suigin was instinctively a clan of troublemakers. Beware not to be one…" Kinjo's voice echoed in her head.

_I'm sorry, Father. I want…I want to prove myself._

With a piercing yell, she called the rocks out. And from the sky they came, emerging from what seemed to be an inverted lake; rocks came out of a surface like that of water's, falling like meteorites towards the multitude of living dead ambling on the ground.

"_Destroy! Destroy! Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!_" Setsuko chanted as boulders of iron showered the earth. Explosions of dust and chunks of dirt followed every impact.

"What is happening?" Kushina asked as she looked up at where the rocks were coming from. "Whose technique is it?"

A boulder of iron could have crushed Kushina if Zuko had not pulled her out of its way using his "force."

"Are you all right, Kushina-san?" Zuko asked her.

"Yes. Thank you. Do you know who is using the technique? We must stop whoever it is. We could be in danger if this goes on."

"I know. Lee-san! Lee-san!"

"Hai, hai, I'm coming!" Lee finished off two corpses before approaching Zuko and Kushina. "This is insane. This can only be Tenten or Setsuko-san."

"It's Setsuko," Zuko said. "She's gone with Neji-san. Eastward. The two girls and Katsuo-san are at the other end. You said earlier that Aika-san has a God's Reflex. She is the only one who can help us here without seriously injuring Setsuko. Could you please get her for me?"

"What does she need to do? It's better if I take Aika to Setsuko-san directly."

"Setsuko must lose consciousness. This is an attack only the elders of Suigin Clan had the right to use. Right now, I'm sure Setsuko is letting instinct direct her actions."

"I'll do my best." With that, Lee left.

…

Aika could see how the zombies and the trees were crushed down under the weight of the boulders of iron. There was no doubt that the technique was very powerful. _The one who might be using this is Haha-ue, Zuko-san, or Setsuko-onee-chan, but the only one with bloodline limit is Setsuko-onee-chan. However… Is her clan this powerful?_

A boulder came for Katsuo, heading down directly over his head and very fast. "Let me bare thy fangs, oh, my ancient fathers. With them let me shred thy enemy." The Inuzuka tribal tattoos on his hairless scalp glowed red and began to spread all over his body. With his eyes closed he was one with darkness, but when he opened them with their golden glimmer, darkness was one with him. His voice seemed to come from the underworld. "No more mercy." He looked up at the boulder overhead, and then put his hand over his diaphragm. The air hissed between his teeth as he sucked. "Lion's Roar!" The boulder erupted into debris of fine dust as the shockwave of his roar hit it deep in its center. Suddenly, his eyes widened when two zombies snuck behind Aika. "Aika, lookout!"

"Tsk, tsk, it's as if you don't know me, Katsuo-onii-chan." The blades descended to split her head in two, but before they could get near, foul blood spurted out of multiple holes in the zombies head. Upon falling the zombies tried to stand up again, but the bones in their bodies burst into smithereens and they fell back. She was too fast it looked like the damage had occurred on its own. "I sure hope Naruto-onii-chan was here to see that."

"Aika!" Lee whirled in air and hit four heads of corpses like bashing watermelon on a beach. "Oh, Katsuo has gotten serious, too. Where's Tenten?"

"Onee-chan is taking care of her end over there. Don't worry about her," Aika said. "Do you have any idea what's happening, onii-chan? Why is it raining rocks as if the end of the world has come?"

"I need you to come with me. Setsuko-san has lost her patience. She is using the technique."

"As I thought." She clapped her hands in excitement. "And just earlier she was making a face like this." She pouted and it turned out charming. Lee pinched her cheek in brotherly affection.

"Ride on," Lee said, turning his back on her. "Your speed is for melee range. I'll take you there."

"Okay." Aika put her arms around Lee's neck.

"Katsuo, we're going. Don't forget about Tenten."

"I'll protect her," Katsuo said.

They disappeared.

Tenten was holding off by skillfully utilizing her circle blade. She threw it and it sliced the corpses in two; she retrieved it using chakra threads. She was determined to fight like that throughout, but then a large group suddenly veered in her direction, carrying a battering ram. "I guess I have no choice. Time to use _that."_ She pulled her circle blade back. She made it float in front of her and by forming a single seal summoned smaller duplicates of the blade. The four duplicates positioned themselves in the four major directions around the large circle blade to represent north, south, east, and west. "This is it, Grandpa." She aimed carefully at the approaching zombie horde. "Shiroi Nadare!" _White Avalanche._ The four small circle blades sucked energy from the surrounding, forming it into white orbs. Then the circle blades transmitted the energy to the big circle blade and Tenten pushed it out towards her target using her chakra. A blinding beam of light burst out like water from a cracked dam and burned anything it touched: trees, rocks, and zombies. "Whoa. More satisfying than what I expected." Another group was coming to her left and she used the technique again.

"You're still amazing," Katsuo said.

"Eh? Shouldn't it be_ more_ amazing? What's up?"

"Rock Lee has just taken Aika. Setsuko-san is the one who summoned the meteor shower."

"Whoa! That's more surprising than you having an obsidian skin."

"This is the result of hard work. Anyway, we need to regroup. We have gotten too far away from the temple. It's becoming hard to give assistance."

"Yeah. It'd be troublesome if help was far when you desperately needed it."

"Come on."

…

Lee spotted Neji fighting off four zombies with his gentle fist style. "Neji!" he called out.

Neji turned his head on him. "What are you doing here?"

Lee went beside Neji. He let Aika down. "Where is Setsuko-san?"

"Over there. I'm keeping my distance. She seems to be in automatic defense mode. I tried to approach, but she attacked me."

"She barely knows what she's doing. It'd be dangerous if we let her be. Aika is here to help out."

"Aika! No!"

"Onii-chan…" Aika began to protest.

"Not this cute one. I won't allow it."

"Mou! I'm going, hmph!" Aika marched towards Setsuko.

Neji looked at Lee, inquiringly.

"I know. But this is not the right time to practice sense of humor. And if it can't be helped…" he made a ridiculous pose, ending it with a sparkling grin, "…put all your heart into it! That's the power of youth!"

Neji began to walk away, sighing. "Geez, I won't try being out of character again. How come people laugh at what idiots do while it's so hard being one?"

Aika came skidding back. Fortunately, Neji was there to catch her.

Blood flowed out of Aika's nostril. "She's strong. It's hard to dodge since there is no space to do it. She can attack in every direction. Was she telling the truth when she said she was a novice?"

"She is but right now she is letting her instincts rule over her actions. Setsuko-san strikes me as someone who has been in a barricaded place, far from people. She must have been relied on too much and this is her first time being surrounded by people a league stronger than her. She is afraid to be a burden."

"No one among us considers her a burden."

"Do you think she will easily believe that? We're strangers to her. If you were in her shoes and you wanted people to rely on you, what would you do? Isn't it that you would show how strong you were? That's what Setsuko-san is doing right now."

"She doesn't need to do that! I won't do it just to make people know how strong I am."

"If Naruto introduced you to friends you didn't know, and you knew immediately that they were on his league and you were not, how would you feel?"

"If that was the case, I'd show them that I shouldn't be taken lightly!"

"See? That's the difference when seeking the approval of other people so that the person you admire will pay attention to and be proud of you."

Aika jerked her head towards Setsuko. "She also likes Naruto-onii-chan?"

The boulders of iron went on dropping from the sky.

"There's a big possibility."

"Mou! Naruto-onii-chan no baka!"

"However, she is still an important person to Naruto. We need to stop her at once before she regrets what she will have done."

"I know that. Onii-chan, I need your help. I might lose consciousness after using this technique. And also I want you to cover my back."

"It can't be helped. You Hybrids are the only ones who are capable of doing it."

Aika looked at Neji and nodded. "Let's do it." She formed hand seals ending it with the hand seal representing the Hyuuga Clan. "Byakugan: Hybrid Category!" The golden rings around her irises changed into small golden granules that pervaded her gray eyes. Raising her hands in front of her like a music conductor, she began her computations. "Distance of target: one hundred fifty-five point forty-two meters. Points of openings: east northeast, twenty-two degrees, four minutes; north…" As she chanted her measurements, she moved her fingers to burn in her mind a visual plan of what she was about to do. Her fingers served as pens for her mental canvass. The lines was there, suspended in air, but no one except her could see. The golden granules swam inside her irises, following the computation she was performing. "Procedure is laid out. Step by step execution." She leaned forward and dashed towards Setsuko. "Open Gate, Energy Gate, Pain Gate, View Gate, open! Jyuuken: Submission Barrage!"

Setsuko's pandemonium attacked her. Then the chains began coming, coming out of her tan body. But Aika evaded these attacks, keeping track with the assault route she had prepared in her mind with her Hybrid Byakugan. In no time, she was face to face with Setsuko, who glared down at her.

"There is no escape, Setsuko-onee-chan. I apologize." Using the tip of her fore and middle fingers put together like a spear, she dealt Setsuko with a fast barrage of stabs which lasted for a half second. The steel-gray eyes in Setsuko's beautiful head rolled up, and she fell forward, unconscious. Aika lost consciousness as well just after her attack. Both ended up resting on each others' shoulders.

Lee and Neji carried them and went for the temple.

"Look down, Lee, the dead are being held off by something. Let's go down that tree. Maybe it's a barrier. We need to signal them that it's us," Neji said.

Upon landing, Lee got a flare from his belt and shot it up. The light shone bright red.

"It's them," Tenten said. "Zuko-san, open the barrier for a few moments."

"Okay."

The barrier disappeared and the zombies surged in. Tenten used her Shiroi Nadare and Katsuo his Lion's Roar on the horde. Lee and Neji quickly went to the temple's courtyard. The barrier came on back and only a little clean up was needed to annihilate those corpses unfortunate enough to be trapped inside.

Kushina ran to them as soon as she saw the two young men. "I'll take them inside. You two rest for a while. Zuko-san is holding off the zombies with his Monk's Barrier." Zuko was sitting immobile at the center of the courtyard as he had done when he fought with Naruto the first time.

Lee lay down on the cold rubble floor. "This is so exhausting. How did you fare? In my last count, I've got three hundred sixteen."

Neji sat beside Lee. "Three hundred twenty-three. I hope Naruto finds that Shitto soon. Look. It's almost dawn. If this goes on, we will be defeated out of exhaustion. That's embarrassing. And against dead people, to boot."

Lee scanned the snarling faces of the zombies and cringed. "I hope Naruto finds him and beat the crap out of him. Fighting this chakra-less crowd makes me sick."

"Not the fight one might find thrilling to take part in again."

…

Naruto decided to land on a clearing when he detected an anomaly below. The sad part was the anomaly's chakra type was familiar to him. He didn't want to think that Shitto was a person he had met and talked to before, someone who had made a _good_ impression on him.

"So we meet again." The voice came from a woman.

Naruto tensed. "Who's there?"

The woman came out from behind a tree. The moon shone down on her, illuminating her blonde hair.

"Reiko-san? What are you doing here? Wait! Weren't you the one assigned by Hashirama-sensei to hunt Shitto down?"

Reiko's cold eyes softened. "_Run! Naruto-san, run away from here!_"

From his hiding place, Shitto's lips curled into a sneer. "She undoubtedly has a strong will to be able to break out of my control."

"What? What are you saying?" Naruto asked.

Reiko raised her right arm and a segmented device shot out under her sleeve. Naruto dodged the device that looked like the bones that made up the tail of a reptile. The tip of the device went through the trunk of the tree behind him.

"Reiko-san, what are you doing?"

Reiko's eyes turned cold again. "I'm in the process of ending your life."

"Aren't you—" Hashirama's voice echoed in his head. _There is a spy in my team._ "Don't tell me you're the spy Hashirama-sensei was talking about."

Reiko retrieved her weapon and whipped it around, cutting off trees in the process. Naruto flew up on his surfboard.

_Is she being controlled or is she the spy Hashirama-sensei implied of? She is breathing and her chakra is still flowing in her body. She's not dead, yet. _"Reiko-san, are you a spy? Please, answer me!"

Reiko attacked him again and she almost succeeded in hitting him.

_This isn't the time for hesitation. Whatever she is, it is safest to take her alive and let the more capable to interrogate her._ "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Ten clones appeared in a circle around Reiko and attacked with kunai. Reiko defended herself well using her whip, but Naruto's clones proved how skillful they were. Two caught the whip as it was slithering back and one used the opportunity it created to attack, bridging over the whip. However, before the clone could significantly close in, a fast wedge went through its neck, dispersing it into smoke. The blow came from an extra arm that had grown from Reiko's back. It looked like the limb of an insect, long, segmented and its tip was very sharp. Reiko had grown four arms in all.

Reiko then pulled her whip, slicing through the two clones holding it, dispersing them into smoke. "Come with me," she said. "You will be treated well and the corpses will be pulled back." The seven remaining clones stood alert. "Stop this. I'm not interested in fighting you."

"Tell me first if you are a spy!" Naruto hovered above Reiko.

"_I'm not a spy. Now, go! Go away from here before I hurt you!_" Reiko suddenly grimaced in pain and tried to reach out behind her head, but her hands seemed to have a life of their own, resisting her effort. "_Go away!_"

Naruto was surprised. "What's happening to her? Reiko-san! Reiko-san! Hey, are you all right?"

Reiko glared up at him. She leaped up, shot her whip at his surfboard, succeeded in binding it, and pulled. Naruto fell to the ground. "Now, you don't have the means to fly." She tried crushing the board, but it proved itself tough. "A Beast's Seal? How clever." She made a Kage Bushin and instructed the clone to bind the surfboard to a tree. "Now, back to our business." She started towards him.

Naruto stood up. "Thank you."

"Huh?"

"Thank you for telling me. Now I know that you are not an enemy."

Reiko's eyes softened and tears flowed out from them, the very first time in twelve years. "_Naruto-san…Naruto-san, I don't want to die. Save me!_"

Naruto smiled reassuringly. "I won't let you die." He began creating seals.

Reiko gaped, obviously in so much pain. Her knees buckled and she writhed on the ground. She screamed.

Naruto made the seal of ram. "Wind Release: Air Dome!" A dome of dense air enveloped both of them and dissolved the chakra threads attached to Reiko's nervous system. Immediately, she stopped screaming. Her extra arms went back inside her body. Naruto went over to her. "Reiko-san! Reiko-san, speak to me!"

Reiko opened her eyes. It was full of emotion, _very human_, not like what they had looked like the first time Naruto met her. Upon seeing Naruto, tears began oozing out her eyes again. "T-thank you. Thank you very much."

Naruto sighed. "Thank goodness that man didn't kill you."

Reiko tried to sit. Seeing how she trembled due to exhaustion, Naruto helped her up. "Where are we?"

"We are in my Air Dome. The Third Hokage gave me the idea for this. It dissolves small to moderate amount of chakra that I don't recognize or deem hostile, something to use for chakra-induced poisons and anti-entities."

"It's a medical ninjutsu, then."

"Somewhat. But the size of the dome I can create has a maximum radius of only three meters."

"For now."

"I guess so. Anyway, can you move?"

"A little. I just need a few minutes of rest."

Naruto carried her on his arms.

"Wait, I can walk!" she protested.

"Better to save that up." He stared at her while he walked towards a large tree.

"What now?" she barked, her discomfort visible now on her face.

"How come you don't have that no-inflection tone anymore?"

"It's…it was just an act." Silence. "Could you please keep this a secret between us?"

"Why do you have to act emotionless in front of people? I think it'd be better being who you really are."

She looked away. "I have my reasons. Please, promise me, Naruto-san."

He reached the tree and gently laid her down. "Okay, I promise."

"T-thank you," she muttered.

Naruto made an Imperishable Bunshin. "He will protect you and keep you company."

"This is…"

"He is not an ordinary clone. He dies like a normal human being. We share the same memory and traits."

Reiko smiled and it was pleasant to see. "You've grown strong."

"A little. Do you have an idea where Shitto is?"

"Yeah, Shitto, I almost forgot about him. Truthfully, the last memory I have of him is the location of his hideout. All I remember are vague events since then."

"So I still need to find him."

"I'm sorry I'm not that big of a help."

"Don't worry. It can't be helped. It's even surprising that you managed to tell me you were not a spy while he was in control over you. That shows how strong-willed you really are."

"I…" she hugged herself and shivered, "I just don't want to die."

Naruto hunkered in front of her. "Don't worry. I'll protect you." He turned to his clone. "I'll kill you if something happens to Reiko-san."

"Heh! I'm not as unreliable as you. I'll regret it for life if even a mosquito manages to bite her skin."

Naruto hit his clone.

"What the hell? Why did you do that?"

"We're the same. If I'm unreliable, then so are you."

"Hmph! Still not a very good sport." He turned, crossing his arms over her chest.

"I'm going."

"T-take care," Reiko said. "Thank you again."

"Ah." Naruto raised his hand and the surfboard dashed towards it, carrying a strong gust of wind. He rode away without looking back.

"Hey, Reiko-san," Naruto's clone said.

Reiko's eyes turned cold and she spoke in a monotone. "You're not the real one. Do your duty and let me rest."

"What? This bitch. Hmph! Let's just see when you get bored. I will never talk to you."

Reiko smothered a giggle as she closed her eyes to sleep.

…

_Where is he? Why can't I find him? _Naruto scanned the area below. _How can he perfectly hide his presence?_

"My, my. So this is how it feels to ride the wind."

Naruto's eyes widened. He whirled around and found behind him a tall man with pale skin, white hair, and frightening red eyes. The man was wearing a white and gold Kabuki vest, black hakama, and wooden sandals. At first glance, Naruto thought it was Tsuneo, but upon closer inspection, the man had a more pointed face.

"Howdy!"

"You!"

The man mocked a shriek. "Me! Me!" He chuckled. "Yes. I'm The Jester. Nice to meet you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto crouched to start an attack. The man who called himself The Jester spread his fingers and Naruto couldn't move anymore.

"How disappointing. I thought you were already strong enough. But you can't even stop the flow of your chakra to hide yourself. The Jester is really disappointed. My, my."

"Heh, don't be so arrogant. You're in my territory." Naruto ceased producing wind and they began plummeting down.

The Jester was surprised. In that split second, Naruto used his Air Dome by only using his will. The chakra strands that extended from The Jester's fingers were dissolved.

Naruto's eyes glinted with determination. "I'm going to give you a proper beating!" He formed a Rasengan and leaped off. His intention: deliver a major damage.

_To be continued…_


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Reasons Behind Hatred And Failure

"Reverse Rasengan!" A black space appeared at the center of the sphere and by the second it got bigger. The sphere itself expanded and its rotation went backwards. As the surfboard hit the ground, Naruto thrust the Rasengan forward. The technique created a muffed explosion and left a large crater with so smooth a surface it seemed deliberately carved.

…

"Ne, why are you different from your original self?" Reiko asked.

"Hm? In what way?" Naruto's clone replied. "Wait! Are you seducing me to talk to you?"

"Seducing…? Seducing you?" Reiko laughed. "What a weird way to put it!" She went on laughing.

"Don't laugh at me! You're getting on my nerves, now, I'm telling you."

"He doesn't talk that way."

"Hmph! I'm not talking to you."

Reiko hid a smile. "Did he behave like you in the past?" When the clone didn't reply, she added, "Okay. I apologize. Now could you answer me?"

The clone's face smoothened. "Ah. Many people have noticed that. They said we have been acting weird ever since we went training with Killer Bee." He looked at Reiko and saw that she was slightly lost. "He's the Eight Tails, Killer Bee."

"Go on."

"It all began when we attained Shiriai. My original self became a little hesitant with things. Sometimes he shows how he truly is, but he acts maturely most of the time. I hate it."

"You hate it? Shouldn't you feel happy?"

"We aren't supposed to be like that. I know I don't have the right to say this, but it's almost like he's betraying us."

"It must be the work of the Fox."

The clone turned to her. "What do you mean?"

"Unlike when the Fox was still inside its Dokubo, Rikudou allows the leakage of the Demon Fox's spirit into the Jinchuuriki's consciousness. Spirit not chakra. It can affect a person's behavior, _significantly_."

"And I'm not affected because I'm a clone."

"That's about it." She looked at him from the corner of her eyes. "Then, originally, he was a hopeless idiot."

"Yes," the clone answered, and then caught himself. "What?"

Reiko giggled. "You affirmed it."

Seething, the clone muttered, "This woman…"

…

Naruto wondered what had just happened. He felt the impact, but his target was nowhere to be seen. Reverse Rasengan was a strong technique and no ordinary technique could counter it once the target was already within range. Could it be that The Jester had used a dimensional technique to defend against it? If that was the case, then he had better be on his guard.

"That's it?"

The voice came from behind him. He whirled around. The Jester was standing on top of a pine tree. "You!" Naruto called up his surfboard. "Fuujin no Jutsu: Kamikaze Times Three!" Three clones surfed up towards The Jester.

"Oh, what's this? Should I dodge or should I wait?"

The three clones exploded. Naruto looked relieved knowing that his clones had hit. Naruto waited until the smoke dissipated. However, what he saw startled him. The Jester was still there, looking down at him with a stern expression.

"Two techniques in a row that could vaporize an opponent in an instant. That was a serious attack, kid."

He was taken aback. He hadn't even heard The Jester's comment. _How? How did he stand it?_

"It's getting interesting. How about you fight with one of my favorite puppets? Have you ever fought against an archer before?"

"What technique did you use?"

"A basic chakra manipulation technique. You have to find out what it was yourself. Now, then."

Naruto saw how the curtain of reality parted, revealing a dark background. _I'm right. He knows dimensional distortion._ From the slit a young girl came out with a bow as tall as she and hundreds of arrows in a quiver slung on her back.

"This is the 67th heir of the Sumiragi Clan. She is a prodigy in archery, and if I were you, I wouldn't underestimate her."

"You coward! Fight me one on one!"

"You cannot even land a single blow on me. My soldiers are enough for you. Don't be cocky just because you're a Jinchuuriki. You are eras behind me, kid. But I must admit. It has been a long time ever since someone made it hard for me to smile."

"Stop using the dead, you demon!"

"Well, it's my style. Besides, this girl is not dead, yet."

The girl set an arrow, aiming it at Naruto. He stared at her. _This girl is not dead, yet. That means I could still save her. I can create an imperishable clone to keep her busy, while I attack that demon. Yes, that's it!_ "Imperishable Kage—" The arrow was abnormally fast that he had to cancel his technique to evade. The arrow pierced three trees, leaving a gaping hole in the trunks. _The arrow was imbued with chakra._ The girl was running towards him now. _What? She's planning for close-range combat?_

"I see. So you haven't fought with anybody other than shinobis before. You are wasting too much time in the East, kid. With your potential, it'd be better if you strived for experience here in the West."

Naruto tried to use his Air Dome on her, but she kicked herself away and shot him with three consecutive arrows. Without giving him a second of reprieve, she cocked three arrows and fired. Naruto was trying his best to use a ninjutsu technique, but the arrows were coming at him way too fast. If he waited it out, hoping for a miss, he would be dead. The girl's aim was pin-point accurate. He was confused now, asking himself how the young archer could manage to fire from anywhere and in any position. He didn't even have time to breathe to relieve some of the pain coming off the side of his abdomen.

"The beauty of pursuing one goal all your life is how much progress you get in a short time. This girl has trained archery since she was four years old. She is now on a master level. While you, you're just beginning to realize your field of specialization."

_I need to hide and think of something. In an open area where she can easily take aim, I'm outmatched._ He decided to flee into the forest.

"Good move, but that has been played before. That is only effective against weak archers."

As he ran through the thicket, barrage of arrows came chasing after him. They bored through the trees, dug the earth, and pulverized jutting rocks.

"There's no more escape," Shitto said.

The girl took aim. "Dragon Drill!" And the arrow sliced through the air. The chakra around it erupted and took up the shape of a raging dragon. It pierced through the thicket and in no time caught up to Naruto.

"Rashomon!" The arrow pushed through the first Hell's Gate, the second, the third. "Rasenshuriken!" The tip of the arrow tried to go through the wind sphere, but every ounce of chakra it had had already been depleted almost to zero. It exploded into small shards of wood. Naruto thought he had defended well, but blood suddenly spurted out his shoulder. He looked ahead. In front of him was a deep trough and at the end of it the young archer with her colorless eyes and cold look.

"Are you hurt, Naruto-kun?" The Jester chuckled. "Strong, isn't she?"

_I have to buy more time_. "Sage Mode." Naruto got a kunai from his knee holster and attacked. The girl fired, but he easily evaded the incoming arrow. He sidestepped and was now attacking from the right flank. _Got you!_ "Wind Release: Air Dome!" He thought he succeeded, but the girl was already behind him, a few paces away. The girl fired. Naruto sidestepped and stared at the girl.

"That was close," Shitto said.

"It wasn't the girl. It was you."

"Well, with you on Sage Mode, what do you expect? Let my puppet be destroyed in front of my eyes?"

An arrow came and it almost hit Naruto.

"If I were you, I would never take my eyes away from my enemy."

"You—" _They're in position!_ He cracked a smile. "All right." He hadn't noticed it before, but dust had crusted on the girl's cheeks. The girl had been crying. _Just wait. I'll definitely save you!_ Naruto began his attack again. He glanced at The Jester from the corner of his eyes. _Now!_

The ground around the pine tree sank down. Then four walls of blue translucent barrier trapped the tree and The Jester inside. Bewilderment was on The Jester's face. "How did you…?"

"You're dead!" said three Kamikaze clones hovering around The Jester. Then they exploded.

Naruto did it this time. The girl's eyes closed and she fell forward. Naruto caught her. The Jester had been telling the truth. The girl was still breathing and the beat of her heart, even though weak, could be felt through her kimono. _Reiko will know what to do._ He carried the girl on his arms and started running.

"Where are you going?"

Naruto's eyes widened. He felt a hand grab him on the shoulder.

"Not too fast, my dear." The Jester wrenched him away from the young archer and hurled him up towards the sky. "We are not finished, yet." The Jester leaped and delivered a punch to Naruto's stomach. Naruto crashed hard on the ground.

"I like you. I think you will be my best puppet." The Jester held him up by the neck. "Now I just need to reduce your chakra to controllable level."

Naruto tried to struggle, but he couldn't feel his body. "What's happening to me? Why do I feel numb?"

"I now have control over the chakra capillaries around your nerves. You're too careless."

Naruto couldn't see anything, but he was sure it was the threads. The Jester had locked the flow of his chakra and even if he willed it, he would not be able to use any technique.

"No! Let go of me!" Naruto tried hard to struggle. He was commanding his fingers to move, his toes, his arms and legs, but they didn't move. "No!"

"You're mine now." Shitto licked his lips. "A new toy for my collection."

Naruto saw an arrow flying towards Shitto. The young girl had forced herself to fire a wishful shot. As expected Shitto caught the arrow. A hand grew out of his back and snatched the arrow before it hit.

"That's rude of you, Kaguya-chan." Another Shitto grew out of Shitto's back. It was disgusting to look at. The process was wet like what you see when turtles lay their eggs. This Shitto walked towards the young girl. "Anyway, what you did was unimpressive. You failed me. You embarrassed me. I bragged about you being one of my strongest puppets. Now, it's hard for me to even face this young man."

"You killer! I'm going to kill you!" The young girl aimed another arrow at Shitto.

"Same here. You're of no use, now."

Naruto stared gaping at the scene. The young girl would surely die in front of his eyes. He struggled harder. _Move! Move! Damn it!_ He peered over the shoulder of the Shitto who was holding him. The other Shitto had lifted the girl with one hand and now was in the process of strangling her. "No! Stop it!" The young girl managed to look at him, pleading and apologizing at the same time. "_No_!"

Vision of the Third's funeral, Jiraiya's tomb, and of Nagato came rushing in his mind. _No. I can't be this weak. I can't._ The girl's lips moving. Shitto's head slowly turning. Then black.

…

A voice of a woman, deep, seductive, slurring as if she was the reincarnation of a cat.

"Do you want power?" A drop of water from somewhere. "Do you want power, Naruto-sama?"

"Eh?" He looked around, frantically. "Who's there?"

"You're so mean, locking me up inside that dark place! I hate you!"

"What are you talking about? I don't know you. Show yourself."

"Mou…" There was a long silence that followed.

Naruto stood up and scanned the surrounding once again.

"Have you been in love, Naruto-sama?"

"What?" Naruto felt movements around him. He tensed. "Could you please show yourself and explain what's happening?"

"Explain…hmmm…" A beat. "Okay. Look ahead and don't blink."

Naruto did what the woman had asked of him. Then things began to take shape. Naruto realized that he was surrounded by soft, silky fur so thick it could easily cover him. He looked at it closely. Tails. _Are they?_ He touched it and squeezed.

The woman gasped. "Will you stop it?"

"These are yours?"

"I told you to look ahead and don't blink," the woman chided. "Yes. They are my tails."

"I'm sorry." Naruto looked ahead and his eyes widened. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He felt his face getting hot. A goddess. That was the only explanation he could come up with. Her face had a perfect shape. Her eyes were compelling. Her black hair reached the floor. Her nine tails which were gray and white surrounded her like a protective moat. "You're…you're so beautiful."

"I'm the Demon Fox."

Naruto blinked. "You're what?"

"I'm the tailed _beast_ inside you."

"But the Fox was scary! How come…?"

The woman was looking into Naruto. "Do you want power, Naruto-sama?"

"What is happening here?"

"None among my past containers has seen me before. They were merely containers to keep my hatred in. But you are different. You attained what no Jinchuuriki of mine had attained. You are special, Naruto-sama."

"I want to know who you really are."

"It's a long story. It's not the right time to talk about it. You are in the middle of a battle."

The present situation dawned on him. "That's right! I almost forgot about Shitto."

"Do you want power, Naruto-sama, power to protect those you want to protect?"

"Yes."

"Are you prepared to walk alone for your dream?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm selfish, Naruto-sama. I'm alive and I still have my emotions. I can't control them. I will give you everything I have, but you have to promise not to hurt me."

"I will never hurt you. I don't have a reason to."

"Have you been in love before, Naruto-sama?"

Naruto had difficulty answering this one. "Y-yes."

"Will you forget her for me?"

Naruto frowned. "Why do I have to do that?"

"Because I will become your wife."

Naruto blinked. Blinked again. He stared into the eyes of the woman. "Wife?"

"I'm a woman and the same as any other woman. I don't like my husband thinking of another woman other than me. You have to devote yourself to me before I give you everything. You have to love me."

"Love you? But I barely know you."

"When I surrender myself, you will know the important things about me."

"I don't like that idea. Okay, maybe I'll know about you, but you don't even know me."

"When I was still in the restricting cell, I wasn't able to penetrate your memory. But after you got my chakra, I had plenty of time learning about you. I…" she blushed, "…I like what I saw. You're not like anyone who I lived with when I was still human."

"How did it happen? Didn't I seal you with Rikudou?"

"My chakra wouldn't have become one with yours if I was still sealed. I would have been in a third location. My chakra and my will cannot be separated that far."

"Third location? Inside my body?"

"Yes. This is how it goes: your chakra channels are located in the first layer; next is the seal holding my chakra; and finally the Rikudou that holds my will."

"I see."

"Rikudou is a temporary restriction. Reverse Hakke Fuin destroys Rikudou in time your chakra channels absorb my chakra, letting me free. If it doesn't do that, the reverse seal will entrap your spirit, instead." Naruto looked on, trying to absorb what she was saying. "All of the time since you put Rikudou on me and until you reversed the Hakke Fuin, I had been trying to influence you, trying hard to control you." She looked up. "But you won in the end. All that I could do was influence your behavior. Your will is greater than mine." A beat. "Naruto-sama, if you promise to love no one other than me, I'll give you my entirety."

"Is there no other way?"

The woman shook her head. "I'm sorry. You can blame it all on my pride and selfishness. I was betrayed many times in the past. Women hated me for my beauty. Men showed no respect and did things that forced me to lock myself inside a fortress. I don't trust human beings anymore, Naruto-sama. This is the first time I will try to trust someone."

Naruto pondered for a long time. "So that was the source of your hatred."

"I'm sorry." The confidence was now gone from her voice. Naruto was quiet for a while. The woman said with trepidation, "I don't want you to die, Naruto-sama, and I know deep in your heart that you want to save that girl. Let us attain the final stage of Shihai together."

He looked at her with a mixture of sadness and reassurance. "I promise, then."

The woman looked up. Her lips quivered and tears began to fall from her eyes. "I'm so happy. I'm so happy, Naruto-sama."

Naruto approached her and wiped her tears away. Upon touching her skin, knowledge surged into him. "I'll accept you as my wife, Yumiko." Tears also flowed out of his eyes, tears of loss, the clear ink that would end it all. _Sakura…_

Yumiko kissed him. "I surrender myself to you, My Lord."

…

The clone holding Naruto erupted. Shitto's eyes were as round as the moon, now. He jerked his head back to the girl, but everything from his elbow up was gone. He gritted his teeth. In front of him, a few meters away, a man was laying the young archer down on the ground. Shitto's countenance was full of rage. "I'm going to tear you apart, you fucking animal. You'll regret doing this to me."

Naruto stood up after assuring himself that the girl was comfortable enough. His hair was blonde again and it had grown up to his ankles. The part over his head was somewhat fashioned to resemble a pair of fox ears and the rest a fox tail. His limbs had gotten longer. The nails on his toes and fingers had changed into claws. Naruto raised Shitto's severed arm and burned it with a red flame.

"You…you pest!" Shitto growled.

…

The girl's eyes opened and she saw a fight she thought impossible to happen in reality. Even with her trained eyes, she still couldn't follow their movements completely. She wanted to watch more, but her eyes became heavy again and she slept.

…

The sun was blindingly bright.

His other self was now sleeping in the back of his mind. His eyes that had been filled with bloodlust now glimmered with kindness. In front of him Naruto was sleeping spread-eagled with a contented smile on his face. Leaning on the surface of the rise was his clone. Only his clone's right side remained. The edges of the clone's shirt and flesh had a charred appearance. He smiled. _That last technique was very impressive, Naruto-kun._ He knelt beside Naruto and brushed away some dust on his forehead. _I already used seventy percent of my chakra on my clone, but you still defeated it, easily._

Shitto stood up. "Look after my son for me, and when the time comes, help him end my life and together with it my sins and shortcomings."

…

"Naruto! Naruto, where are you?" "Naruto-onii-chan!" "Naruto! Naruto!" These voices came from below.

Kaguya looked down at Naruto, who was sleeping on her lap. "So my hero's name is Naruto." She giggled. "Whirlpool. What a funny name! It sounds like it came from a novel." She inspected his savior's face. "I'll never forget what you did for me, Naruto-sama. I'll be forever indebted to you." She inhaled a lungful of air. "Here, everyone! We're here!"

A bubbly white-haired girl came first, and then a long-haired young man, then finally a bald monk helping a blonde woman to walk.

"Ah! Onii-chan!" the white-haired girl blurted out.

"He's okay."

The white-haired girl glared at Kaguya. "What's the meaning of this? Why is my onii-chan sleeping on your lap? Don't you have any decency? He's my fiancé."

The long haired young man covered the girl's mouth. "Don't mind her."

"That's okay," Kaguya said.

"By the way, thank you for taking care of Naruto. I'm Hyuuga Neji. This is my cousin Aika. Those two are Zuko-san and Reiko-san."

"I'm Sumiragi Kaguya. Nice to meet you."

"Wait!" Zuko stared at her face. "Y-you're Kaguya-hime-sama, aren't you, the daughter of Lord Sumiragi Kushiro?"

"You know me?"

"Yes. I'm the wandering monk Zuko. I'm one of the Alliance. I was the fugitive that you provided shelter to when Kagitora's troops were hunting me down. It was five years ago."

"Ah! I remember! You were that perverted monk who tried to hit on my mother!"

"No! That was a misunderstanding. I vowed celibacy when I chose to become a monk. But your mother was really beautiful. I'll never forget her face. How are they, by the way?"

Kaguya looked at her hands. "My father was executed for refusing to point the Alliance's whereabouts. My mother died because of depression a few months after. Shitto was the one who executed father."

"I'm sorry," Zuko said.

"Don't worry. It's already been a long time. My father stood up for his belief. My mother was smiling when she breathed her last. The only thing that I regret is my weakness. I tried to take revenge on Shitto, but he defeated me and made me his puppet. Naruto-sama saved me."

"Wait, wait! Naruto-_sama_?" Aika asked.

"I decided to serve him all my life."

"_What_?"

"Aika!" Neji chided.

Kaguya smiled. "I've been Shitto's captive for a long time. Do you have any news about the Alliance, Zuko-san?"

Zuko told her what he knew.

"I see. So, Musashi-dono hasn't contacted anyone of you, yet," Kaguya said.

"Hashirama-sama arrived this morning. You need to talk to him about this."

Aika scrutinized Naruto. "Something looks amiss with onii-chan."

"His hair," Reiko said. "It's back to being blonde."

Naruto yawned and stretched, and accidentally his hand fell on Kaguya's breast. He squeezed, frowning at the weird feeling.

"Iiya, Naruto-sama, please not here…" Kaguya whimpered.

Naruto's eyes opened. He saw Kaguya's blushing face. "What…?" He noticed his hand which was on Kaguya's breast. He let out a yelp and hastily crawled away. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Please, don't apologize, Naruto-sama. You can do to me anything you want," Kaguya said, demurely.

"Princess!" Zuko said.

"Kaguya-san!" Neji chimed in. "You should not say something like that!"

"Really?" Naruto's eyes were shining.

Aika's fist landed on Naruto's head. "Onii-chan!"

Not only that, his Reverse Hakke Fuin Seal sent electricity throughout his body. "Ouch! Sorry, sorry, Yumiko. I can't help it—" He fell forward, unconscious.

…

"Naruto-sama!"

"Yumiko! Wait, I'm sorry about that. It's…how to say it…it's a part of me."

"Mou! You promised me! Now I regret surrendering myself to you. I can no longer influence your behavior. I hate it when you act like a fool in front of other people."

Naruto laughed weakly. "Can you try to understand?" _Damn, this sucks! Did I really promise her that? Now I know why Shikamaru doesn't want anything to do with girls._ "It's really hard for me to avoid things like that. If you saw my memories, you should already know."

"If it wasn't for my influencing your behavior, girls would not have fallen for you."

"Hey, what girls are you talking about? There are only three girls I know who like me for sure: Aika, Saki-san and Hinata."

"Baka! You are really dense, aren't you?"

Naruto's mink's face surfaced. _This is really annoying. Now, she's insulting me._ _If not for your powers, I wouldn't have compromised with you._ "What do you want me to do for you to forgive me? I'd do anything."

Yumiko blushed. She looked away. "A-anything?"

_Was she really the Demon Fox? It's more comfortable dealing with that ugly monster than this…this…_He sighed, defeated by her delicateness.

"K-k-kiss." Her voice was too small to hear.

"Hey, tell me what you want."

Yumiko looked at him, and immediately looked away. "K-k-kiss."

"Oi, Yumiko…"

"I said kiss!" A black ball shot out from Yumiko's mouth and almost hit Naruto.

Naruto gulped. He looked up. "You…" A bead of sweat slithered down his cheek. _This woman is serious! Did I hurt her that much?_

"I'm sorry, Naruto-sama. I didn't mean to do that." Yumiko couldn't look at him.

He stared at her for a while. "I never go back on my words, Yumiko. You can trust me on that." He reached out and squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry I hurt you earlier." _Damn…if I act too reckless, I might lose my life._

Yumiko glanced up and Naruto's lips caught her attention. "I'll try my best to deal with my jealousy, too." She looked into his eyes, still embarrassed of what she had done. Swallowing her nervousness, she leaned forward and kissed him. Then she disappeared.

Naruto blushed and then a smile slowly stretched his lips. _On the other hand, hehe…Man, I'm slowly forgetting how she used to look like. Wait, aren't we a couple, already? Isn't it just fair to…_He imagined doing this and that to Yumiko. Then suddenly Jiraiya's perverted expression popped in his mind. He slapped his cheeks with his two hands. _Argh! What the hell am I thinking? This is that old Ero-Sennin's fault! Besides…_

Yumiko's voice whispered in his head. _I was betrayed many times in the past. Women hated me for my beauty. Men showed no respect…_

Those words made him realize something. _She needs a friend, not a lover, a friend who she can trust. She surrendered herself to me in exchange for that small favor._

…

Naruto woke up on Zuko's back, but he hid it from everyone. They were walking back to the temple. He relished the warmth of the monk's back and remembered the moment when he was still in Hensen no Kuusho. In just one night, things changed yet again for him. His notion of the Demon Fox, his current strength, the things that were most important to him. He learned that hatred had its roots, and he shouldn't judge situations by how it appeared to be or else he would only see the ugly surface and would come up with a solution that would make the problem worse. _I guess the promise I made with Nagato has been empty until now. _He remembered Shitto._ And I guess things really happen for a reason._

Suddenly, Zuko let go of him and he fell to the ground. His butt hit a rock.

"Itai! Why did you do that, you crazy monk!" Naruto blurted out.

"You've already been awake for a while," Zuko said.

"I can carry you, Naruto-sama," Kaguya offered. "If you want."

"Goodness, this girl acts more like a monk than you are. Is your bald head only for show?"

A vein twitched on the monk's head. "Let me hear that again."

"Hmph! I don't want to waste time repeating things for you. You're bald. Your hearing should be sharper."

"I will kill you, you insolent brat!" Zuko yelled. Aika and Neji restrained him. "I'll shave your head again before I cut your neck!"

Aika asked Neji "Is it true that when you're bald, your hearing is sharper?"

Neji could only sigh.

"So, you're the _real _Naruto," Reiko said. She was back to speaking in monotone.

"Ah, Reiko-san! Are you feeling okay now? Did my clone guard you well?"

"Actually…" Reiko leaned over and whispered in his ear. "He took advantage of my weakness and did this and that to me."

Naruto blushed from neck to forehead. "Nani!" He created his clone and punched him in the head. "You fool! You had the nerve to do perverted things on Reiko-san? Apologize!"

"What's wrong with you?" Naruto's clone spat back. "What perverted things?"

"She told me you did…you know what!"

"Ano, Naruto-sama," Kaguya said, "Isn't it that you should have a memory of what your clones did and did not do when they disappear and their chakras return to you?"

Naruto turned to stone. He stiffly turned his head to Reiko, who was having difficulty suppressing a giggle. Reiko winked at him when nobody else was looking.

He went to a tree, looking very depressed. "I'm so dumb…I'm so dumb…I'm so dumb. Reiko-san, I hate you."

His clone hit him in the head. "That's payback," the clone said and disappeared.

"Even my clones don't respect me at all…"

Zuko was filled with compassion for Naruto. He approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. "That's okay. Sometimes, Reiko can be the meanest woman in the world."

Naruto looked at Zuko, idiot to idiot, and they both let out a long sigh.

"Let's get going. Don't let it rub on you," Zuko said.

"Yeah." Naruto walked like a person who hadn't eaten for three days.

Kaguya caught up with Aika and Neji. She asked with a low voice, "Naruto-sama was not like this last night. Does he have a split personality? I mean, he was like this-will-be-over-soon-I'll-protect-you kind of guy last night. Sigh. My heart beats so fast when I remember it."

Neji said, "I don't know what happened, but I'm happy _he_ is back, the simpleton, straightforward, and—I don't know—slightly perverted?" he shot Aika an inquiring look.

Aika shrugged. "Maybe," she said, cheerfully.

Neji went on. "Yeah. Slightly perverted Naruto. If you knew Naruto since childhood, you'd be asking us that from the opposite end."

"Um! That's the Naruto-onii-chan I fell in love with!" Aika added.

"You mean the…" she gulped and glanced at Naruto over her shoulder, "…the idiot Naruto-sama?"

"Having second thoughts on serving him all your life now?" Aika said, grinning.

Kaguya could only swallow. "He did save me and all, but…"

Aika giggled. Her gait bounced.

"But you know," Neji said, "he's honesty is one of his many good points. When he somewhat became serious with life, brooding most of the time, I felt disappointed and slightly afraid."

Kaguya considered this carefully.

When Reiko noticed that Naruto was lagging behind them, she slowed her pace until Naruto caught up to her. "Hey, Naruto-san."

Naruto looked up. The next thing he saw was a beautiful face and the soft feeling of lips against his. In a blink of an eye, the feeling was gone, as if everything was just an illusion.

Reiko was smiling at him. "Put more energy on those feet, will you?"

Naruto touched his lips, trying to remember what had just happened. _Was that a kiss?_ He looked at Reiko and shook his head. _Impossible_. But his spirits were suddenly lifted and after a while, he could smile again.

_To be continued…_


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34: Dawn of the Red Sun

"What's happened here?" Naruto blurted out. The surrounding of the temple was filled with large trees and hanging from their branches were the corpses. There were trees that had grown from the courtyard and trees that had destroyed the stair. The surrounding forest became thicker, too, with large trees he had never seen before.

"It's Hashirama-sama's technique," Zuko said.

"Wow! Awesome! I never thought he could be this strong!"

"You've never seen anything, yet. He's sleeping inside. He hasn't eaten for four days and was almost dehydrated."

"Eh? Was he fasting or just into crash diet?"

"I like the black-haired guy way of talking more," Zuko said with a sense of longing.

"You're just jealous you don't have any hair."

"Will you stop referring to my baldness over and over again?"

Naruto put his hands behind his head. "Fine, fine."

"He just didn't want to waste even a single second. He was worried that your mother's spirit was still inside you. He did it for you."

Naruto dropped his hands to his sides. His eyes were filled with concern. "Hashirama-sensei…"

"He badly wanted to see you. When he saw your mother, his face smoothened a great deal."

Before Zuko could finish, Naruto had already dashed off towards the temple. He passed by Tenten and stopped. "Tenten, where is Hashirama-sensei's room?"

"The second room along the left corridor," she said, eyeing his hair.

"Thanks!" Naruto dashed off. He pulled the sliding door as soon as he got to the room. "Hashirama-sensei!" His mom was beside Hashirama, who was sitting on the futon, his back on the wall. His red armor was lying beside him.

"Naruto!" Hashirama said, smiling in relief.

…

The first thing that caught Hashirama's eyes was Naruto's hair. He couldn't believe it. His pills' effect had expired. It could only be done when the patient's chakra was strong enough to neutralize external manipulation of cells. Could it be that Naruto's chakra had already attained that level of strength? Even with Shihai, externally induced modification of cells was not easily corrected. A body needed a powerful source of imprint to deny the existence of foreign matters that made adjustments to the color or shape of cells. Cell modifications using drugs were usually successful, especially on Jinchuurikis where a balance between two different chakras was a requirement.

But there was this other thing. Since his modification protein stuck on the hair roots, it was possible that it got melted by a strong surge of chakra which caused major physical transformation. Chakra didn't usually flow through the scalp, but it was necessary to persons that used hair as weapon.

Naruto slipped out of his sandals and sat beside Kushina, who, like him, was staring at the boy's hair. "Thank goodness. What were you thinking, skipping meals like that? You're not so young anymore, you know."

"When did your hair change back?" Hashirama asked.

"My hair? When I woke up, it was already like this," Naruto said.

"You mean it changed during your fight."

"I don't know. I was focusing on Shitto. I didn't care what I looked like during that time."

"I see. Did you experience any hair growth?

Naruto thought this over. "Aha! Now I know what you are trying to find out! Yes, I guess that was the strange feeling on my head and on my back. I'm sure it was hair! But isn't it kinda weird? Why would I suddenly grow that much hair? It doesn't make sense."

Hashirama exchanged looks with Kushina. Even Naruto's way of speaking had changed.

Hashirama said, "Naruto, did you somehow talk with the Demon Fox?"

Naruto blushed and looked away. "Y-yeah."

"It was your first meeting with it, right? You haven't talked with it since you reversed the Hakke Fuin, right?"

Naruto nodded, his face getting redder and redder.

"Hey, Naruto, what are you blushing for?" Kushina asked.

"You saw its true appearance," Hashirama said. It was unheard of. No past Jinchuurikis had ever seen a Biju's true appearance before. In the writings of the Sage of Six Paths, he had described that his chosen ones were humans with a will strong enough to live through the passage of time. He didn't write specifically the names of these humans, but Hashirama was certain they had been famous figures in history. "What is its name?"

Naruto hesitated before answering. "Yumiko."

_The Crimson Queen!_ Hashirama gulped. The Crimson Queen Yumiko was considered a War Goddess and was worshipped by various tribes. There were many accounts in history that described her as a ruthless monarch who hated human beings. She destroyed countries and created ones where those who would not listen died.

"What sort of deal did she make with you?" Hashirama asked.

Nervously, Naruto chuckled. "Ne, ne, can we talk of other things, instead?"

Hashirama's heart was pounding fast in his chest. He was afraid that Naruto had accepted the deal out of recklessness. "It's important for me to know, Naruto. I need to know now before it's too late." Naruto swallowed. He looked at him, and then at Kushina. He braced himself for what he was about to hear.

"Actually…" Naruto looked up, "…do I really need—"

"Naruto!" Kushina chided, her hands crumpling the fabric over her thighs. She was worried silly for her son.

Naruto closed his eyes and told them in one breathing: "She demanded that if she was to surrender herself to me I must be her husband and I accepted the deal and now we are technically married!"

Hashirama's eyes were wide in shock. It was the Crimson Queen they were talking about. And knowing what she had been like, it was unlikely that a thing like this could happen. He looked at Kushina and what he saw was palpable hatred. He understood immediately. The Demon Fox had killed many of her friends and was also the creature who had robbed her and Minato the chance to be with their son.

"Have you forgotten what that beast did to your father and me?" Kushina hissed. Naruto's eyes widened. It was clear that he had not considered that. "That demon is a murderer and you accepted it as your wife! I will denounce you if you don't explain your reason to me."

Naruto's jaws were shaking for a while. His lips were pale and sweat was all over his face. Then he clamped his jaws and sadness filled his eyes. Hashirama saw the conflict of emotions on his face. Naruto's hands were shaking on his lap. "I'm…I'm sorry, Mom."

"Tell me your reason, now!" Kushina looked as if she could kill her own son.

"We can talk—" Hashirama began, but Kushina cut him off.

"Shut up!" She collared Naruto, her hands trembling. "Tell me, Naruto. Now!"

"She wants to try to end her hatred." Naruto gently pushed Kushina's hands away. "I made a promise to her, Mom, and I'll never take back my words. I know Father will understand."

Kushina stood up and slapped Naruto. "Don't talk as if you know your Father!"

Naruto looked her in the eye. "He _sealed_ the Demon Fox within me! He believed that I could make a difference, and I will! I need her power, Mom. I need power to protect those who are important to me. And if the world ends up hating me for it, I don't care, as long as I can protect my friends, Konoha, and _you_."

Kushina blinked at his last statement, and then her tears began to flow. She embraced Naruto. Tight. Hashirama had to look away to relieve himself of embarrassment. After a few moments, they broke the embrace. Kushina took Naruto's hand and made a combination seal with it. "I want to meet this Yumiko. Mind Manipulation Technique: Subconscious Intrusion!"

Hashirama watched the two as they slept forehead to forehead beside him. He wondered why the original self of the Demon Fox had made such a deal with Naruto. Had Naruto managed to convince her in some way? Naruto said that she wanted to try to end her hatred. Was the Crimson Queen relying on him that much? He stared at Naruto. _At this rate, it's only a matter of time before you reach Yuujo._

When the two woke up, Kushina immediately left the room.

Hashirama cocked an eyebrow at Naruto. "Well?"

Naruto grinned at him.

…

"Zuko-san said that I needed to talk with you," Kaguya said. She had already taken a bath. She had tied her hair in a ponytail and was very pretty in her kimono. "Are you really the legendary Lotus?"

"I see that the Sumiragi is really a clan of beautiful people."

"Well, thank you for the _flattery_."

"It was a compliment, Kaguya-hime."

"Please, let's skip the useless chit-chat and get to the point."

"As professional as the rumors say," Hashirama said. He drank some tea. "You are a supporter of the Alliance, aren't you?"

"Yes. Chichi-ue didn't agree with the current king's administration."

"Didn't?"

"He's dead. Shitto executed him when he refused to point the Alliance's whereabouts."

"I'm sorry."

Kaguya sighed and looked intently at Hashirama. "I want to ask you something. Zuko-san told me that the true heiresses to the throne are travelling with you. May I know what you are planning?"

"It's the same. When the eldest daughter reaches eighteen, the Alliance will move to get the throne back. Right now, my duty is to keep them safe."

Kaguya considered the situation for a while, sipping tea every now and then. "When are you leaving for Tanimori?"

"Two days from now, I guess. I used a big amount of my chakra to get rid of the zombies. I want to be one hundred percent fit for battle before we leave the temple."

"I see." She didn't speak for a while again.

"What are you planning to do now?" Hashirama asked.

"Huh?"

"We will need all the help we could get. Will you take up Lord Sumiragi's stand against the current king and fight alongside us? I'm sure your clan will approve of it if they learn that a shinobi under my command saved their princess."

The sliding door slid open and Naruto barged in. "Hashirama-sensei! How long are…" he stopped. "Kaguya-san. Were you having an important talk? I'm sorry. I'll come back later, then."

"No. She was just about to leave. What is it that you want?" Hashirama said.

"I was just wondering if I could go out for a bit. I've just got something to do."

"Go and ask someone to go with you."

"They are all resting right now. They had it rough last night. Don't worry. I can take care of myself."

Thunder rumbled outside.

"It's gonna rain," Hashirama said. "Are you sure you're going to be all right?"

"Heh. You are talking to the guy who defeated Shitto! No need to worry. If an enemy shows up, I'll just have to kick his ass! See ya!" Naruto excitedly left the room.

Hashirama noticed how closely Kaguya had watched Naruto. "Are you interested in him?"

Kaguya jumped. "Huh?"

"Well?"

Kaguya composed herself and stood up. "I'll consider your proposal. Excuse me."

Hashirama smiled, meaningfully. "I'll wait for your reply."

"Thank you for your time." Kaguya bowed and left.

…

Naruto was doing warm up exercises at the courtyard. After doing a set, he put his hands on his hips and looked up at the sky. "Just earlier the sun was so bright." He looked ahead. "Okay. Time for work! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu Ten Raised to Three!" A thousand Naruto clones appeared and crowded the courtyard. "Yosh! Listen up! We will start from the outskirts of the forest up to here! Everyone is resting right now so it's up to us to do this job! Good luck!" With a silent concession, everyone including Naruto disappeared.

Kaguya was watching from the entrance of the temple. The wind that had resulted from Naruto's swift departure hit her face. It was full of his scent. Her heart suddenly beat faster. She frowned and put a hand over her heart. After a while, she exhaled and returned to her room.

…

That night, when the rain poured full force, Kaguya decided to shoot a few rounds of arrows. She hadn't seen Naruto since he left this afternoon. Kushina said that he was sleeping like a log inside his room.

The boy intrigued her very much. Usually, in her experience, boys his age were trying hard to act adult already, trying their best to look cool in front of girls. They didn't casually blurt out things and normally would think first before doing something. But Naruto was different. She knew she was pretty, but he hadn't tried impressing her in any way. He even acted like a fool in front of her.

She let go of the arrow and it hit the center of the log she had hang for her target. She pulled another arrow and aimed.

Like this afternoon. She had no idea why he had gone with a thousand of his clones. It was a pity she was still sleeping when he got back. She could have asked him. Neji had described him as straightforward, but to her he was a mystery.

Suddenly, an eruption of blue light caught her eyes. She took aim at it and fired. The arrow pierced through the rain and disappeared in the darkness.

"Itai…" said a weak voice. Her well-tuned ears caught it.

"Who's there?" She stepped forward with an arrow ready to fly at any moment. "I said who's there?" The rain drowned her voice. Gulping, she decided to push on. She stood a few paces from where she had seen the blue light. "If you don't speak, I'll shoot!" She was drenched to the skin now. Her hair clung to her face.

"N-Naruto…"

"Naruto-san?"

"Is it Kaguya-san? I'm grateful you're not calling me Naruto-sama anymore."

"Naruto-san!" She immediately threw her bow and ran in the direction of the voice. When she got through the bushes, she saw Naruto leaning against a tree, a wet flame tag in his left hand, her arrow through his right arm, and a corpse beside him. She knelt beside Naruto, her face pale but not from the rain. "Are you all right, Naruto-san?"

"Yeah. Just a little tired."

"I'll take you inside!" She started to sling his arm around her shoulders.

"Not yet," he said. "Just one more. He is the last one. Could you help me up?"

"You're bleeding!"

"It's just a scratch. Please?"

She couldn't stop her tears. She had shot that arrow which was now sticking out his arm. "You know, you're friends are right! You really are a fool! If you had asked me, I would have been happy to help you!"

"Shush. Everyone was tired. I was the only one with enough chakra this morning." Naruto reached out and stuck the wet flame tag on the corpse. He activated it. Blue flame burned for thirty seconds and what remained of the corpse was washed away by the rain. Naruto closed his eyes and said a short prayer.

Kaguya watched him as he did this.

"That's it. Two thousand and three hundred five souls. Thank you, Kaguya…san." He fainted on her shoulder.

She thought she could easily carry him inside, but he was too heavy. Every muscle of his was loose; nothing carried his weight. There was no time to waste. She inhaled a lungful of air and yelled for help.

…

Kushina was pacing inside the room. Kaguya sat with her head hanging in remorse on the left of the futon. Reiko wrung the rag and put it back on Naruto's forehead. Setsuko was leaning on the wall at the far corner of the room, her arms crossed over her chakra-sucking beads, her fingers trembling a little.

Reiko said, "He's used up all his chakra. Making a thousand clones and activating combustion tags more than two thousand times will definitely do that even if you have a Biju inside of you."

Kushina stopped and glared at Kaguya. Then she shifted her gaze on Naruto. "Musuko no baka! So selfish! Even if he is my son, I want to strangle him right now. Just this morning, he brought bad news, and now this!"

"I'm sorry," Kaguya said in a little voice. "It's all my fault."

"Shush. Please, don't argue here," Reiko said. "Naruto-san is trying to sleep."

Tenten came in the room with four bowls of soup and a towel for Kaguya. "Here. To warm your stomachs." She set the tray down and went on serving them one by one. She gave the last bowl to Kushina. "Auntie, here."

"Do you think I'm in the mood to relax right now?" Kushina spat.

Tenten smiled. She held Kushina's hand and pulled her towards Naruto. "Auntie, look at his face." Kushina did. The others did the same, inconspicuously. "Isn't it a satisfied face?" Kushina stared long, and then weakly sat down beside Kaguya. Tenten put the warm bowl in Kushina's hands. "Your son was acting as himself. He is truly a genius." She winked. "Genius in making others worry. He has been in worse situations before. That's the reason Aika and the boys aren't concerned that much."

Kushina clutched her bowl tighter. "Even so…"

"I'm getting used to him now," Reiko said in her dead voice. "He cut his arm once to save two girls."

"Eh?" said the others, collectively. Even Tenten was surprised. Setsuko, who knew of this, looked away.

"I just can't believe how idiotic he can be," Kushina said. The steam warmed her face. "For goodness sake, they were already dead, and enemies to boot! Did he want to die for a bunch of rotting corpses?"

Tenten sat across Kushina and Kaguya. Reiko was beside her, busying herself with the towel again. "Let me fill you in on some of his other escapades. Before I left to train three years ago, I contracted a virus-induced fever from my last mission. Tsunade-sama told me that the only way I could be cured was to get a certain kind of enzyme from a very rare snail. She said she could send shinobis for that mission, but we might lose some lives because hunting for the snail was very dangerous. After I learned of that, I begged her not to tell anyone about my condition. Tsunade-sama really hated it, but she had no choice. Then, unexpectedly, after nine days, Tsunade-sama came again with the medicine. I can still remember how she looked that day. To sum it up, she had been crying for days. I was cured and was ignorant of what had really happened for a couple of weeks. That was until I overheard a conversation among the nurses. They were talking about Naruto, of how he survived a dangerous operation. In only ten seconds, I saw the connection. I went to Tsunade-sensei and begged her to tell me what had really happened. She broke into tears and told me that somehow Naruto came to learn about my condition and secretly went to get the rare snail for me." She had to wipe her tears at this. "You know what, the manner he had used to send the snail to Konoha could have drawn out laughter in normal days. Many thought it was another of Naruto's pranks." She giggled. "A malformed clone came wobbling to take the snail to Tsunade-sama. Later, Naruto was found almost dead leaning on a tree a few yards away from the gate with that kind of expression on his face." She looked at Naruto, longingly. "I cried for days after I learned that."

"Naruto-sama did that?" Kaguya asked, her lips trembling.

"Yes. Since then, I've become close to him. At first, he was denying it, but there came a time where I couldn't hold it in anymore. I marched into his apartment and scolded him for a long time. When he saw my tears, he panicked and finally admitted it." She scooped Naruto's hand and squeezed it. "He became my obsession and by asking other people I learned that he had done favors for others, too, and same as mine, secretly. He was the reason I strived to be stronger. You know, Auntie, Naruto is quite famous with girls, and I admit that I won't be surprised if those who've been with him before have already fallen for him. If you are his friend, he will not hesitate to throw away his life for you. To boys it brings about loyalty, but to girls it isn't the same."

"You're indirectly saying that you like him," Setsuko said, unable to control herself.

Tenten giggled. "Who wouldn't? Before, I felt small, unimportant, not worth someone's concern and time. He was the only one who showed me that I mattered. Beside other people, I feel ordinary, but beside him, I feel as if I'm the most special person in the world. Who wouldn't have fallen for him?" A beat. "Many of you here might've already wondered why he wouldn't pay attention to you, am I right?" Everyone who had looked uncomfortable. "That is a point most of us girls find irksome, but also mysterious. He has that ability. You will get tired wondering if he feels something for you or not, because he can make you feel as if he likes you and at the same time make you feel not. He treats everyone equally, but not in an ordinary way. He makes you feel admired and proud of yourself not through flattery and uncalled-for reaction—he seldom does that since he has an inferiority complex—but through what he will do for you." She paused, and then giggled when she remembered the old times. "His idiocy and impulsiveness haven't changed at all, but I like it. His actions represent those things ordinary people will never do because they are afraid. And because of that those who have seen him in flesh gravitates towards him."

"I guess a person like him only comes once in a lifetime. A natural hero," Kaguya commented.

"That's the case. I just hope he stays clueless of how he affects the feelings of those fortunate enough to be a witness of his chivalry."

"He even made a demon fall for him," Kushina said as she stood up.

Tenten frowned. "A demon?"

Kushina ignored her. She leaned over Naruto's face and put a kiss on his forehead. "Being a mother to him proves to be very challenging." In a low voice, she said to her son, "I hate you for making me worry this much." She straightened. "I'm going to take a short nap."

When Kushina was gone, Setsuko said, "Ne, Tenten-san, have he fallen in love before?"

Tenten smiled, sadly, "Yeah. Her name is Haruno Sakura."

"Does she like him?"

"Sakura loves another man. It's been an unrequited love for a long time. And you know what's more tragic than that? Naruto is doing everything within his power to take that man back for Sakura. And in my opinion, that just sucks. That man is a criminal and has only succeeded in hurting them both." She looked at Naruto. "He's the reason he died once. Right now, everyone wants to kill that man for what he did to Naruto, but I'm sure Naruto will stand against it. Sometimes I want to confront Sakura and tell her a piece of my mind. Sometimes…"

"You love Naruto," Setsuko said.

Tenten was quiet for a while. Then she laid down Naruto's hand back on the futon and stood up. "I don't know. I guess." She inhaled and managed a smile. "Just so you know, I had the courage to tell all this because everyone inside this room is a woman. I hope everything stays inside this room." She went to the door. "Get used to him. He is Uzumaki Naruto."

…

Naruto opened his eyes and a woman's face greeted him. When his vision cleared, he realized that Kaguya was watching him and their faces were close enough to kiss. He could feel her warm breath on his mouth. His eyes widened. He hastily pushed himself away from her. "Kaguya-san!"

Kaguya blushed furiously. "No! It's not what you're thinking! I'm not trying to kiss you!" She caught herself. "I mean…BAKA!" She was panting. "Baka, baka, baka! Naruto-sama no baka!"

This made Naruto a bit defensive. "Oi."

"I'm sorry. I was just watching over you. Sorry." Her voice grew softer and softer after each pause.

"Well, if you put it that way." Naruto caught sight of the tent's flap. He looked around. "Hey, are we in a tent?"

"Yes. We've been travelling for two days now."

"Two days? How long have I been sleeping?"

"Four."

"Four days?" He hastily stood up. The blanket fell down from his body. He didn't know he was naked.

"Iiyaaaaa!" Kaguya screamed.

Reiko, Setsuko, Tenten, and Aika came running from outside. Upon seeing him, they all turned red, Reiko just a bit because it was not her first time, Tenten a notch redder than Reiko for she had seen it from books, Setsuko and Aika as red as a tomato made crimson from injecting red food coloring for it was their first time and he was the man who made them conscious of themselves and made their heart beat silly in their chests.

"Big," Reiko commented.

"Reiko-san, don't describe it!" Tenten scolded.

Aika didn't know what to do. "Ah, eh, what, I think I'll be outside." She stopped and glanced back one last time before dashing off full-force out of the tent.

"Perveeeeert!" Setsuko bellowed.

Tenten scurried to cover Naruto with the blanket. "What the hell are you doing exhibiting your yummy merchandise in front of girls?"

Naruto frowned. "Yummy merchandise?"

Tenten paled. "I mean…" He glared at Naruto. "Sometimes, even though I'm used to your denseness, you still can get on my nerves! Baka!" She pushed the blanket into Naruto's chest and stomped out of the tent.

It was then that Naruto realized he was naked. He scanned the faces of the remaining girls with a shock expression. He clutched the blanket more protectively around him. "What are you still doing here?" he barked. "Get out!"

Kaguya and Setsuko got out of the tent as fast as they could.

"Don't be so hard on us, Naruto-chan." She zipped the tent's flaps and cracked a smile.

"Naruto-_chan_?"

"Yeah. Naruto-_chan_." Reiko approached.

Naruto frantically searched for his clothes. "Where did you keep my clothes?" He saw that Reiko was almost upon him. "Stop!"

"What? I'm just going to check you up. Besides, you're already sixteen. You should already feel comfortable being naked."

"In front of girls? Thank you but I'm not an exhibitionist."

Reiko sat on the edge of the futon. "Are you still a virgin?"

Naruto blushed. "What if I am?" he said. "Man, in these situations, I like the fake Reiko-san more."

Reiko fondly tapped the tip of his nose with her forefinger. "I don't know how much cuter can you get." She returned to her cold self. "Lay still, Naruto-san. Let's get started."

…

After Reiko gave him the green light, Naruto went outside the tent. He saw Hashirama sitting cross-legged at the edge of the precipice where they were encamped. Wind ruffled his golden hair. He was about to make a step forward when he noticed something in the sky. His eyes widened. "What…what are they?" The black hulls of the ships cruised languorously towards the west. There were hundreds of them, black, huge, and intimidating. The clouds hid their upper parts, but their bottoms showed, just enough to send a warning that they were there and coming.

"Nue has begun moving," Hashirama said, without looking back. "They are going in the direction of Buxing and Xeinzhi. Tch. Just the thing we need."

"What are they, Hashirama-sensei?"

"Floating battleships of Nue." He pointed at the Nue's coat of arms painted on one ship. It had the sign for yin and yang, fenced at four corners with intricately designed blades.

"I didn't know such a thing existed," Naruto said, utterly dumbfounded. "Amazing."

"Nothing is amazing about them!" Hashirama said, harshly. "They are one of the worst inventions of all. Do you know how destructive they can be?"

Naruto flinched when Hashirama turned to him. The Shodai Hokage's face was filled with fear and fury. "I've lived almost a century, Naruto. I've seen wars many times. There's nothing amazing about them." He glared at the Nue's crest. "Kagitora should fall, but innocent people must not be involved. We should move fast."

…

Hashirama assembled the group that evening to tell them about his plan. "Nue has already made the first move," he said. "Kagitora will never deal with it using dialogue. He has been waiting for a thing like this to wage war against Nue." He gave Zuko two scrolls. "Zuko, you'll go to Koto and give the red scroll to Kaguya-hime's grandparents."

"And the blue one?" Zuko asked.

Hashirama stomped on the ground twice. A few moments later, something emerged from it, drawing gasps from the gathered crowd. It was a frightening man with a face of a mole. He had two pairs of smaller limbs protruding out of his chest and abdomen. His skin was covered with dark, wiry hair. His black dot eyes were looking intently at Hashirama. "Hashirama-sama." His voice was like rock grinding against rock.

"Brass, after Zuko has brought the letter to the Sumiragi Clan, take him to Morigakure."

"I understand." Brass dug himself back to the ground.

Hashirama turned back to Zuko. "Give that scroll to Akito. He'll know what to do."

"Akito," Zuko repeated.

"I think I should go with Zuko-san," Kaguya said. "Granny might not believe him that I'm still alive."

"You have another role." Hashirama gave the black scroll to Naruto. "Naruto, you will go to Taka. Give this to the Tsubasakage. Kaguya-hime will guide you there. The rest is coming with me to Tanimori." After he dismissed the group, he talked with Naruto. "Neji-kun told me that five of your comrades are in Taka. If possible, tell them to avoid fighting against anybody from any kingdom. If it can't be helped, tell them not to wear their forehead protector."

"What? But why?" Naruto said.

"I don't want any of these kingdoms to become hostile to Konoha. Remember this."

Naruto nodded. "Okay."

"Here." Hashirama gave Naruto a coin where a lotus flower had been carved. "They'll immediately take you to the Tsubasakage when they see this. I gave Zuko the other one."

"Okay."

"Your name is Asahi, a mercenary under Lotus, do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good luck."

_To be continued…_


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Knowledge of War

So as not to tempt uncalled-for attacks, Naruto heeded Hashirama's instruction to file their entry at the booking station in Min. The fat woman, who had attended Shikamaru and his team, was surprised to see a _blonde _man in the area. As Hashirama had told them, blonde men were rare in Sanmyaku, and being in a closed country, Naruto stuck out like a sore thumb. Every employee at the booking station crowded in around Naruto and Kaguya. One old man told them that a group of foreigners had just flown off for Taka two months ago. Naruto was grateful of the information, but denied their association with the foreigners. When Naruto refused to rent pterodactyls, the keepers were confused, but Naruto assured them they didn't need the flying lizards. When one of the employees asked them how they would travel, Naruto did a wind test with his surfboard. The employees applauded in awe.

"You are flying with me, sir," a keeper said. "You will be shot down before you can say you came through here and your flight was authorized. Just pay for a single seater if you'll be flying with your surfboard."

"We'll pay for two," Kaguya said. When Naruto looked at her in protest, she added, "You need to rest for a bit, Naruto-sama. I saw your legs shaking one time."

"I can still do it," Naruto said. "My knees just buckled from the cold."

"Hai, hai, Naruto-sama." Kaguya turned back to the keeper. "We'll be taking two, please."

The keeper beamed. "And the wife takes the rein. It must be nice to be young again."

Naruto was about to protest, but Kaguya stomped on his foot. She glared at him when he tried to ask why.

"Back in a jiffy!" the keeper said, running for the stable.

The keeper brought a Goza, a large two-seater pterodactyl, with him. Upon seeing the intimidating appearance of the large bird, Naruto attempted to attack it. Fortunately, Kaguya stopped him in time with a playful but firm "Naruto-sama! No," as if she was talking to her pet dog. She approached, hooked an arm around his, and led him to the flying area.

"Kaguya-san, will you do me a favor? Stop with the –sama thing," Naruto said. "Was it just a dream that you called me like a colleague once?"

"That was a long time ago, Naruto-_sama_," she said with a chuckle.

Naruto raised his arms, dismally. "Shikamaru, guidance please."

The keeper helped them up the Goza and later announced that he would be riding on another pterodactyl. Then they were off.

…

Inuzuka Momoko had just finished her lesson for the day. She was teaching herbal medicines and forest survival. It was two in the afternoon. Ino and Sakura were teaching at the village's hospital. She closed the door of the classroom and descended down the wooden pathwalk that spiraled around the tree. People in Taka were like birds and prefer constructing their buildings on trees.

She was still as beautiful as ever. In Hanegakure she was famous for it. People told her that it was rare for them to see a black beauty nowadays, and a perfect one at that. She didn't want the attention and was only forcing herself to play along. Fortunately, men in Hanegakure were decent people. One word was enough for them to stop if she said no, except for the desperate.

At the root of the tree, an admirer approached her with a bouquet of orchids. He was tall and handsome and had a charming smile. "Hi, Inuzuka-san. Good afternoon."

Momoko forced a smile. "Takeshi, hi."

"This is for you," he said, giving her the orchids.

Momoko mocked surprise. "Oh. Thank you." Flowers were her least favorite item.

"I'm glad you like it. Uh, have you had your lunch, yet?"

"I—yeah. I had it with Shikamaru." She was trying to discourage him.

"Oh, of course, Nara-san. Well, can't be helped then. How about some tea?"

If she could, she really wanted to disappear right now. "Thank you for the offer, Takeshi, but I have to see Ino and Sakura."

"Oh, yes, the two lovely girls—"

"I'm sorry. I have to go." Run from the tongue. "See you another time."

"Sure." Takeshi's eyes glinted with evil. He was not used to being dumped by a girl. "You'll be mine," he muttered to himself. "You just wait."

…

As Momoko ascended the stairs to her apartment, she noticed the commotion below her. People were hurrying to the main road. Intrigued, she asked a young girl what was happening. She told her that a mercenary under Lord Lotus and Princess Sumiragi had arrived for an appointment with the Tsubasakage.

"Are they important people?"

The girl gaped. "Hello? Lord Lotus is _the_ legendary hero, period, and he doesn't just recruit _anyone_. You have to be a genius to be working under him. Some of the greatest warriors in Taka have already tried applying, but his standards are just impossible. Well, Princess Sumiragi is _just_ the greatest archer in the world and is the daughter of Lord Kushiro who was the head of one of the oldest living warrior clans in history. Also, I heard that the mercenary was hot." The girl whined in glee. "See ya!" And the girl dashed off.

Momoko knew that the girl had been exaggerating things, but nevertheless, she was interested. She went to see for herself.

…

Momoko watched from a branch of a tree, scanning the crowd that gathered at the side of the road. Heads were craning, mouths busy murmuring. Then her eyes spotted the guests. The two of them were surrounded by shinobis, keeping the crowd at bay. One was a pretty, black-haired teenager with an bow slung around her torso, while the other…She frowned and stared closely at the man beside the young girl. Her heart was beating fast in her chest now. He had golden hair and piercing blue eyes. The only thing that was not right was his age, if her theory was correct, and the white surfboard he was carrying. But the face...

Not aware of what she was doing, she jumped off from the branch and landed directly in front of the two guests. Her eyes widened upon seeing the man in close up. "Naruto?"

…

Kaguya reached for Naruto's hand and squeezed it. Naruto looked at her, concerned. No one should know that he was from Konoha because he was Lotus's representative. It would bring about suspicion against his comrades. Even if Hanegakure was an ally of Morigakure, it was impossible that the village had no enemy spies.

"Naruto? Naruto, is that you?" the dark-skinned girl went on.

"Mister?" Kaguya interjected, pleading for help from their escorts. Naruto was trying hard to hide his emotion.

A shinobi approached the dark-skinned girl. "Inuzuka-sama, if you please. They are important guests of the Tsubasakage."

"Excuse me, but that man _is _my friend!" She looked pleadingly at Naruto. "Are you Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Inuzuka-san!" the shinobi said, trying to push her away. "Please!"

"Let me go!" She kicked the shinobi away, sending him to the crowd.

The other shinobis began to move in on her.

"Stop!" Naruto said. "I'll handle it. Miss, I'm sorry. I don't know who you're talking about."

She was frightened to hear this. "Please, don't lie."

Naruto approached her and took her hand. "I'm Asahi. Nice to meet you." The gesture sparked jealousy from the girls in the crowd. "If you'll excuse us…" Without looking back, Naruto walked on.

"Impossible." She whirled around to watch him go.

Kaguya deliberately nudged her aside, muttering, "It's in your hand."

She seemed to notice what she meant. Kaguya gave her a parting smile, both saying good luck and wishing the opposite.

…

The head escort took them inside a garden walled with glass. They could see the village below. At the far corner of the room, a white-haired woman was watering her plants with a spray. She was in her late fifties, but her posture still carried confidence and pride.

"Blue roses are so rare these days," the white-haired woman said. "So hard to find. They only grow where the soil understands their needs." She set down the spray bottle and went to greet them. "Good afternoon."

Naruto and Kaguya bowed. "It's our honor."

"Tsubasakage-sama, Lotus-sama wants you to have this," Kaguya said, reaching out to give the black scroll.

The Tsubasakage perused the contents of the scroll, carefully, and when she was finished, sighed. "Yasuo." The head escort opened the door. "Take our guests to their rooms." To the two she smiled and said, "I understand what Lotus-sama wants me to do. Thank you for bringing this letter to me."

"Ah, ano, Tsubasakage-sama," Naruto said.

"Yes?"

"May I know where your temple is?"

"Oh, my, but we have a lot of temples here. What specific temple are you looking for?"

Naruto was horrified. "Eh?"

"Baka," Kaguya muttered. "It's all right, Tsubasakage-sama. We'll find it ourselves."

The Tsubasakage smirked. "Getting the hots for Inuzuka-san, I see. I saw the commotion from here. Well, she has that effect on men. I can't really blame you."

"No, no, it's not like that!" Naruto said.

"I understand. When people grow older, they get sharper." She smiled, conspiringly. "It's all right. The two of us here can be trusted. Where's your meeting place?"

…

They would share a single room, and if they felt uncomfortable sharing a bed, the size of the room alone could accommodate them in any arrangement they decided upon.

"Naruto-sama is hopeless," Kaguya said. "Why didn't you just tell her that you would be going somewhere tonight, wait outside, and when the coast is clear, pick me up?"

"I thought it was a good idea to be specific."

She heaved a sigh. "It was just lucky for us the Tsubasakage is considerate. Sheesh. Hots for blah-blah. So irritating."

"I'm sorry, okay, I'm sorry! No need to rub it on me."

"I'm just telling the truth," she said.

"Well, the truth is…the truth is not helping me!"

"Hmph!"

"Argh! Okay, I surrender." He paused. "Anyway, thank you. If you were not here, I'd be in deep shit."

Kaguya stole a glance of him, pleased.

"I just remembered." He seemed to have remembered something cool.

Kaguya was eager to hear what it was. "Yeah?"

"It might've been better if I'd written night market."

Kaguya smacked her forehead. "Hopeless, hopeless!" She marched off.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"To take a shower!" she spat. "Care to come?"

Naruto blushed. "No. I'm sorry." He watched her leave, and then muttered to himself, "But night market would have been a good idea, right? Hmmm…"

"Shut up!"

Naruto flinched. "Okay, okay."

…

Momoko hid herself in the shadows near the Tsubasakage Mansion. She had been waiting for Naruto to come out for twenty minutes now. When the gate suddenly groaned, she tensed, and all the speech she had prepared flew out her mind. Her heart raced and she could hear its loud pounding. Her palms got sweaty.

"I'll be all right," Naruto told the guards. "I kind of want to explore the area on my own."

"Have a good time, then, Asahi-sama."

"Thanks! You, too!"

When Naruto passed by her, she grabbed him from behind, covering his mouth. He struggled to get out of her embrace until she shushed him and told him she was Momoko.

"I'll release you, now."

Once freed Naruto spat out dirt that had entered his mouth. "Geez, are you mad at me, Momoko? I've tasted a worm!"

Her voice faltered. "That was bird droppings, silly."

He whirled around. "What? You demon—" Arms enfolded him. The embrace was so tight he could feel his lungs being crushed.

"I thought I lost you. I was so worried."

"Momoko…"

"Please, don't say 'let go.' Please let me be for a while." She crushed herself into him. "I've missed you so much."

Naruto became solemn. He stopped struggling. "Hey, this is not like you."

"I don't care! I don't care whatever you say!"

"Hey, Momoko, it's all right now—ack! My back…" His eyes rolled up.

"I love you, do you hear me? I love you! If this is a dream, then I don't have anything to lose. I will say it over and over again. I love you, Naruto. I will never love anyone else but you. I want you to know that. You are the only man for me. It's okay if you don't feel the same. I just want you to know, so don't try to stop me!"

"Oi."

"Go away!"

"It's Shikamaru. Your voice is getting louder. People are beginning to notice."

This was when she realized what she had done. She felt blood rushing to her head. "Oh my God. Don't tell me…"

"He's already fainted. Let's take him somewhere."

She dropped Naruto on the ground and she stepped back, horrified. With a last glance at Shikamaru, she ran-off, covering her face in embarrassment.

Shikamaru called out to her. "Hey! Momoko!" He could just helplessly watch as she disappeared into the darkness. He threw up his hands in the air. "I can't believe she's already eighteen." Eying Naruto, he said, "Sheesh, and she knows, too, that I'm so great in PE. How troublesome."

…

Naruto felt the warmth of the comforter on top of him and softness of futon behind him. He groggily opened his eyes and found a pink-haired girl and a blonde girl sniffing beside him. He bolted up. "For all the gods' sake, don't kill me, yet!"

Upon hearing his voice, Momoko hurriedly got out of the room.

Naruto frowned. "What's happened to me?"

"Idiot…" Sakura muttered. She was looking at him with bitterness through her tears.

Slowly, a grin grew on his face. "Sakura!"

Sakura lunged at him, unabashedly wrapping him in her arms, ignoring what body parts she was letting him to feel. "Don't do it, again, else I kill you myself. Never leave us again like that!"

Naruto understood what was happening. "I'm sorry."

"Naruto…Naruto, you dummy. You always make me worry for you." She tightened her embrace. "You always do what you want."

"I'm sorry."

She pushed him at arms' length and looked into his eyes, tears flowing relentlessly down her flushed cheeks. "Tell me I'm not dreaming."

Naruto shook his head. "No, you're not."

She smiled and wiped her tears. "I'm happy." Then, as sudden as how lightning struck, she slapped him. "That's for everything."

"Itai…" he said, but he was chuckling.

"Na-ru-to," Ino said. She spread her arms for a hug. "May I?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and groaned. "Girls."

After the mushy moment, Naruto got on to business. Shino, who had kept his silence in a corner, closed in and sat across the girls. Shikamaru informed Naruto that Momoko was outside and was refusing to go inside. Naruto asked for her reason, and when Shikamaru opened his mouth to tell him, a kettle hit his head.

"Don't. You. Fucking. Dare," Momoko hissed through clenched teeth. She knew Naruto had no idea about her confession earlier, and Shikamaru was about to retaliate for his exertion in carrying Naruto on his skinny back.

"God help me," was all Shikamaru could manage.

Naruto told them how he was still alive and what Hashirama had told him. The gang listened, intently.

"So, there really is a war happening," Ino said.

"Yes. And Lotus-sama is certain it will develop full-scale," Naruto said. "The two rulers are both idiots."

"It's desperation," Shikamaru said. "Both parties are desperate for survival. It's the worst fuel for war. No one will stop until one has perished." A beat. "Damn it. And to think that Madara is still at large in the East."

"You said that the heiresses are with you?" Shino said. Naruto nodded. "We cannot stop its outset, but we can shorten it."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Assassination," Shikamaru said. "And I think I know now why Lotus-san contacted Hanegakure."

Naruto put on a face that said he understood, too. "Yeah."

"Don't listen to the idiot, Shikamaru. Please, explain," Sakura said.

Shikamaru continued. "I've seen floating ships collecting rocks from here, and from asking about it, I learned that the rocks are used to make floating ships. That scroll probably contains a request from Lotus-san and the Tsubasakage will be his messenger. Hanegakure is an ally of Nue and I'm sure the Tsubasakage will be summoned by the queen."

"Isn't it more logical if Lotus-san directly meets with the queen?" Sakura said.

"It will need confirmation if he does that."

"But why? If he is the legendary Lotus, isn't his presence alone credible enough?"

"As Naruto said, no one outside of his village has seen Lotus's face before. He has always worn a mask. It's not easy to gain trust. The enemy can disguise as Lotus and do a large damage. The Queen of Nue will not fall for that. But if he uses a method of contact that the Tsubasakage recognizes and confirms in front of the queen, there will be a higher probability that the queen will believe."

"Ne, ne, what do you think is written on the scroll?" Naruto asked.

"Lotus's objective is to save the civilians. If I were Lotus, I would request the queen to send a special evacuation team. I'll use the fact that Taka is an indispensable source of material, and if she refuses, Taka will not let Nue mine for rocks anymore. If the queen threatens to attack Taka, I'll counter-threaten her that I, the legendary Lotus, will back up Taka and be her enemy."

"It's not that easy, Shikamaru," Ino said. "We're talking about the largest kingdom here."

Shikamaru smiled, triumphantly. "Here comes the decisive move. If Nue consents, I, the legendary Lotus, will help with the assassination of the King of Kogiwara."

Naruto's eyes were shining. "Shikamaru is so cool." He cleared his throat and mimicked Shikamaru. "Here comes the decisive move. You're so smart, Shikamaru!"

"Yeah. Care for a date?" Ino teased.

"You can wash my clothes if you're that impressed."

"As long as you're still wearing them."

Shikamaru sighed. "Stop it, Ino. Naruto really might die from excessive nose-bleeding."

Ino was amused. "Oh." She giggled. "May I with you, Naruto?"

"Naruto, stop blushing!" Momoko reprimanded.

"Ino!" Sakura chided.

"What? I'm just having some fun." Ino shot a meaningful look at Naruto. Naruto giggled, nervously, looking away.

"How long are you going to stay here?" Shino asked, breaking the fun.

"Until the Tsubasakage gives me a reply," Naruto said.

…

When Naruto had gone back to the mansion, Sakura talked with Momoko.

Sakura was glowing in happiness. She walked to the balustrades and whirled around. "I want to apologize for avoiding you these past two months. I thought…"

"It's over. I forgive you. What's important is the present, not the past."

Sakura smiled. "Thank you. Thank you very much."

They embraced under the diamond-filled sky, relieved, contended, and happy.

_To be continued…_

Author's Note:

Hi, everyone! I hope you had a joyful Christmas and you'll have a wonderful new year. I was lucky this vacation the submission for my project had been moved. I had the time to update three chapters. Now, I'm getting into flow and you can expect no more hiatus. I myself am getting addicted with my own story. Didn't see it coming...

Well, enjoy.

Happy New Year to all!


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Offset of Fame

Takeshi, Momoko's avid admirer, went to his business that morning. The Tsubasakage had left for Nue two days ago, and he knew that it was safe to carry out his plan now. As long as no one interfered, he would succeed with it. When the cave was only a few meters away, he stopped to rehearse his excuse for a few moments. Two Jonin shinobis were guarding the cave, and by the look of it, they would not let anyone even a small animal to enter. Taking a long breath, he walked on.

"Good morning," Takeshi said.

"Takeshi-sama!" the guards exclaimed, startled at his unannounced visit. "What are you doing here?"

"Haha-ue instructed me to check on it."

The two guards frowned at each other.

"What do you mean?" one guard asked. "Takeshi-sama, this cave is off-limits, even to you."

"We cannot allow you, sir. The Tsubasakage, herself, told us that even with a written permit, no one was to be allowed inside," the other added.

"Is that so?"

"We are very sorry, sir."

Takeshi hid an evil smile. "I see. Then how about this?" His eyes glowed red for an instant. The two guards stiffened. "May I go inside, now?"

"Yes, Takeshi-sama," the guards said in unison, stepping aside for him.

Now, he was not hiding his grin anymore. "Good. That's the way I like it."

…

Naruto was scrutinizing a display of frog-leather pouches through a glass stand when suddenly something large crashed a few yards away behind him. The old female vendor's eyes widened upon seeing the crash.

"That one looks good. Was it a girl frog?" Naruto said, fingers on his chin like a detective deep in thought. "She could be gama-chan's partner."

"Asahi-sama, look!" the vendor said.

"What?" Naruto turned where the woman was looking at. "Hey, what's going on?"

The small shacks continued on bursting into debris, dust all around. People ran off screaming in every direction.

"Oh my God, not her. Not her, please!" the vendor muttered.

"Her? Hey, obaa-chan, who's her?"

The vendor said, hastily, "I'm sorry, Asahi-sama, but I need to check on my children! I'm sorry!" She hurried away from him.

"Who's her?" Naruto said to himself, frowning at the on going wreckage.

He saw shinobis leaping on rooftops toward the direction of the commotion. He could read on their faces how serious the situation was. The next thing he knew he was leaping off roofs with them.

"Hey, what's going on?" Naruto asked the shinobi beside him.

"Asahi-sama, it would be better if you went on your way. This is an internal problem," the shinobi said.

Naruto understood what he meant. He stopped and watched the shinobi go. His eyes on his feet, he started to the opposite direction, but after a single step, he stopped. "Argh! I want to see, too!" He whirled and dashed off in the direction the shinobi had gone to. Finally, he reached a spot where he could see the cause of the ruckus. His eyes widened. It was a large, black anaconda, and its bulging stomach was a clear sign that it had just eaten breakfast.

Forty shinobis were now surrounding the giant snake. The head of the group was barking instructions, pointing his finger here and there. The giant snake slithered forward. It seemed not interested with its surrounding. Its eyes were trained ahead, at the village proper, where families went on with their daily activities.

"Kai!" the head of the shinobis bellowed.

A huge man went in front of the snake and formed hand seals. "Earth Release: Earth Wall!" A large dam-like structure grew out from the ground to hinder the snake. But the snake didn't even slow down. It smashed its head through the thick wall and went on.

Desperate now, the shinobis attacked the snake with their techniques, but to no avail. They failed to even confuse it. It slithered, its belly eating the distance little by little.

"Ooooi!" Naruto called out. "That thing is really serious! I want to help!"

"Asahi-sama," the head of group turned his head to him.

"Ringo-taichoo, the snake is almost at the village!" a young shinobi shouted.

Ringo's fists shook in defeat. The acquiescence would show that they could not defend their own village, but the snake was something else. He had no choice. If the rumors were true, he could only count on the outsider. "Please, Asahi-sama."

Naruto grinned. "Yosh! I'm coming!"

"I'll help, too," Momoko said, suddenly appearing beside Naruto.

"Momoko! Wow, I didn't even notice you."

"Is that a compliment? Anyway, I was so worried when the guard told me that you had gone out. Now I'm glad I followed you." Momoko stared at the black snake. "Where did that thing come from?"

"I don't know, but the thing is, it's somewhat resistant to ninjutsu."

"Oh. You've become quite the observant."

"It will grow on you however you prevent it." Naruto had not told them about his training inside his unconsciousness or Shihai or the four past Hokages who had become his senseis. _You're gonna need all the observing power you have against those monsters._

Suddenly, the snake froze.

"Hey, what's happening now?" Naruto asked.

"Look, it's Shikamaru!"

"I will not be able to hold it for long," Shikamaru said. He was having great difficulty in maintaining his binding technique. He had his shadow beneath the snake's huge belly. "Go and set up a perimeter defense around the village!"

"Nara-sama…" Ringo said, startled at the development.

"What are you waiting for? Go! Go!" The snake made a movement. Shikamaru couldn't help grunting.

The shinobis were puzzled for a moment until Ringo repeated Shikamaru's instruction. "Kai, inform the guards of the situation. Team 3 and 4, go and search for survivors in the market."

"I understand," Kai said. He nodded at the other shinobis, and then they moved out.

"I'll be counting on you, Nara-sama. Thank you." After Ringo said this, he followed his team.

"I can't hold it anymore." Shikamaru forced himself to look up at Naruto. "It's all yours!" He broke the binding. The strain of the technique had drained his strength. His knees buckled, and then he went down.

Angered, the snake turned to Shikamaru. It raised its head, staring at him. Shikamaru cringed. The snake opened its large mouth and plunged forward. There was a large explosion of dust and dirt when the snake's head collided with the ground.

When Shikamaru opened his eyes, he found himself in Momoko's arms.

"Naruto told me to stay away as far as possible."

"I thought I was done for. Thanks," Shikamaru said. "You can put me down now."

Momoko picked a roof far enough from the snake. She put Shikamaru down. "Do you think he can manage?"

"I'm not a sensor, but he doesn't have the same chakra as before," Shikamaru said. "He seems to have gotten a lot of levels higher."

Momoko was disturbed with Shikamaru's conclusion. "Do you think he is that strong now?" _Naruto, do you really have to leave me behind this much?_ She clenched her fists.

"I don't know how he will deal with that monster," Shikamaru said. "It seems to have the ability to neutralize chakra. It can also dissolve everything made by it."

Shino, Sakura, and Ino landed on the same roof as them.

"I was just about to go to the hospital when I saw the explosion. What's going on?" Sakura said.

Shikamaru gestured with his chin. "Somehow that snake appeared from nowhere and started destroying everything in its path."

"I haven't met with that monster even once," Shino said.

"Met with it? What do you mean?" Momoko said.

"I've been wandering all over Taka to find new species of insects and animals. I'm wondering how an animal that big has eluded me."

"Who's that guy fighting against it?" Ino said, dismissing Shino. "Is that Naruto?"

The snake had turned all its attention to Naruto and, at the moment, was trying to eat him. In the process, it continuously destroyed nearby buildings.

"It is," Momoko said. "He—"

Sakura started towards Naruto, but Shikamaru caught her arm.

"You will just get in the way," Shikamaru said. "He's not of our league anymore. Right now, he might be as strong as or stronger than the Sannins themselves."

"Let me go! I won't be like before who just stood by while he was about to die!" Sakura said. She tried to use her incredible strength to pull her arm from his grip, but she suddenly found herself bound by Shikamaru's Shadow Binding, Shino's chakra bugs, Ino's Deep Freeze, and Momoko's strong arms. She gaped in disbelief. "What are you doing?"

"With your rash actions, you'll kill him yourself," Shino said, the only one who was able to say that fact, bluntly. "Watch. The snake can barely touch him."

"And I think he's having fun doing it," Ino added.

Sakura looked to see for herself, anxiety in her green eyes. "Naruto…" She clenched her jaws. "It's okay, now. You can let me go." After they did, she heaved and shouted, "Naruto, if you defeat that snake, I'll let you go out with me!"

Ino sighed. "It's not really the time to be saying that."

Momoko crossed her arms, upset. "Cheater," she muttered.

…

Naruto created a hundred Kage Bushin to hold down the black anaconda, but it easily got rid of them by hurling its body at the walls of the buildings. Naruto then tried to attack with Rasengan, but it disappeared upon touching the snake's scales. He gazed up at the monster, frustrated from its apparent invincibility. _It'd be better if I observed from above._ He extended his left arm and called for his surfboard. After a few tries, he gaped in horror. He had left it in his room! _Shit!_ The snake towered over him and attacked. He hurriedly evaded and hid behind a large wine storage.

…

"Nara-sama, you should get away from here now," a masked shinobi said.

Shikamaru whirled at him. "You're a black op shinobi."

"Yes. It's an order from the Tsubasakage to ensure your safety in this village. We can't allow you to stay here."

"No, we're not leaving!" Sakura said. "A friend—"

Shikamaru raised a hand to stop her. "The black op should only be involved in extraordinary circumstances. Why are you here instead of the Jonins?"

"That is something you don't have any business to know, Nara-sama. I'm sorry."

Shikamaru looked over his shoulder at Ino. He nodded at her.

Ino formed hand seals. "Mind Manipulation Technique: Consciousness Takeover!"

The black op shinobi lost consciousness and was only able to stand up because of Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique. Silence prevailed for a few minutes.

Ino's eyes widened. She let go of her technique and looked back at the rampaging serpent.

"What have you found out?" Shikamaru asked.

"That snake is called the _Queen of Serpents._ It was the reason two provinces in the south had disappeared from the map of Sanmyaku three hundred and fifty years ago. It wiped out ten million lives. It has the ability to render any technique using chakra useless and its scales are so hard steel is like soft mud. The only person who had been capable of stopping it was the Emperor of Sanmyaku, back in the days when the five kingdoms were still one." She looked at Shikamaru, anxiously. "No one knows how the Emperor did it. He put the snake to sleep and brought it here as insurance if ever it woke up and went wild again. Only the noble families of Taka and the Tsubasakage have known where it had been locked up all these years. No one is allowed to go near its cave. It's been enforced strictly that even children were not spared from death if they happened to be too near the place."

"Then someone has woken it up for some idiotic reason," Shikamaru said.

"If I go with this shinobi's train of thought, that someone is already dead."

"What about Naruto?" Sakura asked. "We cannot leave him alone."

"Look around you. The black ops have surrounded the place. We have no choice but to retreat."

"And leave Naruto alone with that monster?"

"Are you not listening, Sakura? Even innocent children were not spared from death!"

"I can't believe you." Tears filled her eyes. "Whatever you say, I'm still going!" She prepared to leave, but a fast fist buried itself in her stomach. She looked up and saw Shino.

"This is for the best," Shino said.

"Shit," Sakura hissed and fainted. Shino carried her on his shoulder.

Shikamaru saw the eyes of the black op shinobi blinking.

"That's weird," the shinobi said. "Where were we again?"

"What are you planning to do?" Shikamaru asked. "I think we have the right to know about that because it concerns our safety."

The shinobi hesitated for a few moments before speaking. "Do you see the perimeter my colleagues are setting up? We're going to put explosion staff around it and force that part of the floating island to sink."

"What?"

"That's the only way we know to stop that monster. Now that the Tsubasakage is in Nue, we can only count on our captain."

Shikamaru held the shinobi's arm. "I want you to know that Lord Asahi is currently fighting against it."

"Lord Asahi is there? So he was the one who confined the snake in the district market."

"You know what to do. We're leaving." He nodded at his team, and then they left.

…

_Think! Think! Think!_ Naruto was focusing all his mental capacity to think of a good idea of how an offensive shinobi like him should deal against a chakra-resistant snake. With its size, it could easily be as big as Manda, Orochimaru's summon. It had the ability to cover a large distance. Not only that. It was also fast. Its scales were so hard that no kunai, shuriken, kicks, or punches had affected it. Could a totally invincible creature like it really exist?

Naruto perked up when he felt its presence behind him. He got up and fled. The sound of head-versus-rock reached his ears as the snake destroyed the residential building he had been hiding from.

"Damn it! If only my surfboard was here." He looked behind him. The snake was chasing him from the opposite side of the row of houses. He could see its black scale through the gaps in between the evacuated homes. Suddenly, a building two lots away from him erupted. The snake crawled over the debris toward him with its mouth open. He had no way of evading. His inertia was too much for him to change direction. It was too late. He closed his eyes.

"_Asahi-sama_!" Kaguya called out. She was on top of a tower. She spun around and hurled his surfboard towards him.

"Kaguya! I love you!" Naruto shouted back, delighted at her timely arrival.

Kaguya stiffened upon hearing it. She groped for her heart, flustered and light-headed.

The surfboard came at him, and when it was close enough, he leaped off. He landed perfectly on it. The snake's lower jaw raked the dirt as Naruto glided away. The snake raised its head and searched for him. Was that a frown on the snake's forehead? Naruto chuckled. He flew towards Kaguya, who, at the moment, couldn't look at him and desperately wanted to get away from him. Naruto scooped her up and kissed her cheek, loudly. Kaguya was about to faint.

"I thought I was going to die. Thank you very much," he said.

"You're welcome, you're welcome. Ah, Naruto-sama, your arms…" She indicated his tight embrace.

"Oh, sorry," he said. He looked down at the snake. It was still searching for him. Then he noticed the line of black clad shinobis around where he was fighting the snake. They had formed a large circle around the place. "What are they planning to do?"

"Them? I don't know," Kaguya said.

"Let's go down." He wrapped an arm around the pretty girl—forcing a moan out her mouth—and descended down. The black op shinobis watched him with apparent fascination. He landed behind the formation. "Hey, could I ask what you are planning to do?"

Naruto saw the Adam's apple of the black op bob before he spoke. "Asahi-sama…" He seemed not to know how to proceed.

"We will sink the place to the ground through explosion staff, Asahi-sama," offered another shinobi. "We won't win against it in a face-to-face combat."

"If that's true, how have you managed to live with it through the years?" Kaguya asked.

"We didn't live with it, Kaguya-sama. It has been confined inside a sealed cave until now."

"Confined, you say? Then why not just use the technique which imprisoned it?"

"It's not that easy. It has been over three hundred years since that snake's defeat. There is no written account of how the First Emperor did it. This is the only way."

Naruto heard a sweet, melodious voice in his head.

"A-anata? May I call you Anata?"

_It's not the time for that, Yumiko. We are dealing with something right now._

"That's why I called you. The human in the snake's stomach is still alive."

_What?_

"And there are two more. Be in Sage Mode, My Lord, and you'll see."

_Thank you, Yumiko. I owe you this one._

"Anything for you, My—"

_You can call me, Anata, if that's what you want._ _You're my wife, after all._

"Thank you, A…," she gulped, "Anata."

Naruto approached the black op shinobi. "When will the bombs go off?"

"Pardon?"

"When will you activate the bombs?"

"The placement is not yet finished. In three minutes, I guess."

Naruto thought for a while. "Give me ten minutes."

"For what?"

"I'm just going to check on something."

"Asahi-sama, what do you intend to do?"

_You wouldn't believe if I told you. I don't have evidence._ He ignored the question. "Ten minutes. Activate the bombs after that."

"No. We cannot put your life in jeopardy."

Naruto jumped off the roof with his surfboard. "Ten minutes!"

"Asahi-sama!" Kaguya called out.

"I'll be right back. Trust me."

Kaguya clasped her hands in prayer.

Naruto descended down. He was careful not to let the snake see him. The leader of the shinobi raised his hand, closing and opening it twice to tell his troops that they would be activating in ten minutes.

"Sage Mode!" The feel of the surrounding changed like a surge of wind blowing into one's face upon opening a window during a storm. His sensory range had expanded dramatically since he became husband to the Crimson Queen Yumiko, the Demon Fox. Now he could even feel the presence of the black op shinobis who were over two hundred meters away from him. The presence of the snake became more powerful, but there was no more. _Yumiko, are you sure you felt something?_

"Yes. While you were running from the snake, I felt them. Their presence was very faint. I'm sure they are inside a deep place. The aura of the snake must be hiding them from you."

"How about the one in its belly?" Now he was talking aloud.

"It's fading too fast."

"We quickly need to do something."

Finally, the snake saw him. It raised its head, its tongue going in and out its mouth. They stared off for a while: the snake with an expression of smug confidence; he with an expression of assured uncertainty. Then the snake jerked its head into another direction. It was now looking at the ruin of a building.

"Anata, there!" Yumiko said. "I can feel them from there!"

"Oh, no. Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A large population of Naruto clones appeared around the snake. They started pulling and pushing the giant snake away from the ruined building. The snake struggled. "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Hordes of Naruto flooded the snake.

If he could only see, he would be laughing silly, because behind the masks of the stoic looking black ops, faces were as white as paper in disbelief.

Naruto felt dizzy after the four consecutive execution of the forbidden technique. One average shinobi could have died already after such feat. He could hear Yumiko moaning in his mind. The technique had undoubtedly drained her. Even if she had already surrendered herself to him, they remained a separate entity. That was the reason why Yumiko could sense chakra, independently. They would only be one and the same when Naruto entered his complete Kyubi Mode, the mode he had used to defeat Shitto.

Naruto composed himself and landed beside the ruin. He searched for an entrance. His clones were doing well in pushing the snake away. They would give him enough time to search for the survivors. At the far corner of the ruin, beneath a shaggy, snake-made pyramid of thick logs, he found a hole. He entered it. The place was dark.

"Hello? Anybody here? Please, speak." No reply. "Hello?"

"Here…" It was coming from a child. "Please, help us. I have my little sister with me."

Naruto pushed through the wreckage and found under the sink a young girl crouching over a baby. The girl had been crying but the baby was unbelievably acting like…like a baby! Still cheerful despite of the chaos around her.

Naruto was genuinely concerned. "Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere?"

"My ankle, commoner. It's sore."

The baby reached out and honked his nose, squealing in delight. She had a gold forehead lace with a green gemstone at the center. "Abu…abu…" she said, excitedly.

The young girl smiled. "Wow. This is the first time she takes up with another man. Are you of noble birth? If you are, then I'm sorry. Well, except for my brother and my father, she doesn't approve of anyone else." She beamed at him. "You must be someone special."

"I don't understand what you're talking about, but we need to get out of here fast. Here, I'll both carry you." He started to slide his hands under the young girl. "Easy now." Suddenly, the roof was swiped away. Blinding sunlight rushed in and ate the darkness up. The baby shut her eyes and whimpered.

"Shush, shush, Mika. It's all right," the young girl said.

The snake came up with its deadly eyes trained at them, taking its time. Mocking. Its tongue went in and out, in and out, in and out—curled—in and out.

"Don't let the baby look. You, too, close your eyes." The young girl did his request. "Don't be afraid. I'll not let you die."

"Um," the young girl muttered, shivering. Naruto tightened his embrace on them. The baby cooed, putting a hand on his chest, crumpling a small patch of fabric there.

The snake retracted its head, preparing to spring forward. Slowly. Slowly.

Naruto's eyes had turned into a pair of blue gems filled with furious determination. The snake sprang forward, fast. Naruto was not moving. He would not let the two girls die. There was a promise of death in his eyes. "If you inflict even a single scratch on these two girls, I'll turn you into minced meat." He said this under his breath, but the snake seemed to hear him. It stopped two inches away from his face, its eyes growing wild. The lines on its belly started to surge in rhythm. Froth appeared at the side of its mouth. It began harking as if a bone was stuck in its throat. With a fast sweep, it crashed its head into a water pump. Water spurted out from the broken pipe. Harking, harking, it turned to Naruto again. It sprang forward with all its weight. Unexpectedly, it avoided Naruto and crashed into the heap of debris at the right wall. Naruto just stood there, shadow of his bangs draping the upper half of his face, his posture sturdy, his calm chilling.

…

Up on the roof, Kaguya was shivering. She seemed to forget her admiration of Naruto. Her lips were pale like a frozen finger. Around her, all the black ops' eyes were focused on Naruto.

"Never in my life have I felt this frightened before," the leader of the black ops said.

"His killing intent is incredible. I can't even move," another said.

A young black ops shinobi fell down on his knees, clutching his head. "Make him stop! Make him stop!"

His sister pulled him up. "Stop whining like a baby. Feel it and learn. This is how high Lotus-sama's standard is. You are aiming for a spot under his banner, aren't you? Now, get up and endure!"

"I can already imagine how it would feel like if I were that snake," the leader of the black ops said. "Poor thing."

…

The snake went on harking. It slithered around Naruto and attempted to attack from behind. But, like its first try, it couldn't finish its attack. Its instincts told it to avoid, so it avoided Naruto and collided with a house ruin across the street. While down, the spasm along its belly continued. The bunch in its stomach climbed little by little to its mouth. It raised its head and opened its big mouth. Sticky saliva clung disgustingly on its short fangs. A mass of it with froth dripped on the ground. It harked twice, and then lowered its head. A body came out its mouth, covered with thick mucus and gastrointestinal acids.

Naruto looked up. "Go away."

The snake considered Naruto for a while. Then it lowered its head and softly nudged Naruto's forehead with its nose, an act of respect and acceptance of defeat. The Queen of Serpents had been bested a second time. It turned around in the direction where it had come from. A few minutes later, it was gone.

Naruto found himself at the center of the district market. Around him, people had their faces on the ground, prostrating themselves in front of their hero: the black ops shinobis, the Jonins, Chuunins, and Genins, the head of the clans, and the thousands of villagers who he had saved. They had witnessed how the Queen of the Serpents accepted its defeat and spared all their lives. This was history that they would tell their grandchildren in the next generation. A legendary monster had submitted itself to a human being, a mercenary, a handsome, young man with an aura as warm as the sun.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Naruto said, deeply puzzled.

The young girl got off from his arms. She gave her baby sister to him and bowed at his feet. "You have saved Taka from destruction. We will be forever in your debt, Asahi-sama."

"Eh?" Naruto was really confused, now.

A person from the last row started to clap. The bowed heads turned towards the sound. A second person began clapping as well. It became contagious and the people just found themselves sharing a thunderous applaud for their hero. Children chanted, "Asahi! Asahi! Asahi!" Mothers and fathers surged forward to personally thank him.

"Wait! Wait! The baby will get crushed! Help me! Someone!" The shinobis hurriedly formed a barricade around him. "Whoo! Thank you." He checked on the baby. She looked up and smiled at him.

"Gagabu…" the baby said, and then giggled. She reached out and honked his nose a second time.

"Let me have her?" the young girl asked. "You're getting fond of her."

"Well, she's really cute." The baby squealed in response. "Here you are."

As he set the baby in the young girl's arms, his eyelids fluttered.

"By the way, I'm Princess Sagai Tamiko. My father is Lord Sagai Haruo, Taka's current and living king."

There was a thud. Naruto had fallen asleep because of exhaustion.

Tamiko smiled. She was only nine, but she could already compare Naruto with her late grandfather. "I wish you were here, Grandpa. I'm sure you two will get along well."

_To be continued…_


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Swordsmen and Amplifiers

Another room yet. Naruto was getting used to the idea of falling unconscious one second and waking up inside an unfamiliar room the next. How many times had he done that? He looked around the room. The corners seemed so far away he felt vertigo pulling at him. Where was he? As he struggled to get his bearing, he felt the warmth of a hand over his. He looked to his right. A pink-haired girl slept beside his bed. Recognition crept into him.

"Sakura-chan?"

Sakura stirred and looked up. Lines of stress under her eyes told of sleepless nights. "Naruto!"

He tried to smile, but his facial muscles were still numb from sleep. "Where are we?"

"I'm glad you've come to. It's been two days."

Two days? Naruto couldn't believe he had been too exhausted he had to sleep for two days to recover. The other time he had slept for four days. He might be overdoing it a little. He made a mental note to be conscious of his limit next time. After he attained Shihai, he had become overconfident that he could do just anything in a fight. It was becoming a habit, and it could be bad.

Sakura was still speaking. "Were you really trying to kill yourself? You did four, consecutive Tajuu Kage Bushin Technique! Not a single shinobi in history has been able to do it and lived."

He could live with that achievement. But it was not her point. "Everything has turned out well in the end," he said.

"Is that all you can say? We were so worried!"

"I'm sorry. I was just trying to save those two kids."

"Argh!" Sakura inhaled a lungful.

Sakura was controlling her anger. Somewhat, it felt nice seeing her fussing over him.

She broke the silence. "I'm sorry. It was just…I acquired this phobia from losing you once. I just don't think that I can endure it a second time. I don't want to lose you, anymore."

That was unexpected. He felt his cheeks getting hot. He looked away, unable to decide how to respond. "Is that so?" he said. He began to feel uncomfortable. Didn't she know what she was doing to him? For the longest time, whenever something like this happened, all he had felt from her was her sincere concern for him as a friend. She exuded something different right now. He dismissed the feeling. Concluding things would only lead to pain.

He cleared his throat. He could indirectly ask about it by disguising it as a harmless joke. "Hey, stop staring at me. You are making me feel that you've fallen in love with me." His heart raced in his chest. Anticipation opened his pores. The room got colder.

Sakura sighed. "You're always reckless."

He was disappointed. It was just his imagination, after all.

She looked around as if being in the room the first time. "We're inside the castle of King Sagai. Princess Tamiko insisted that we took you here."

"A castle?" Naruto said. "So that's why it is so grand." He took in the room. The windows stretched high, almost to the ceiling. If the drapes were up, he thought that the room would have enough light for sunbathing. Expensive looking vases stood on well-made tables around the room, and at the far side, there was a shelf filled with thick volumes. The floor was so shiny it might show the underwear of maids. By the look of everything, he might be right about how they dressed: long skirts with frills at the hem.

"Hey, are you thinking something perverted?" Sakura asked.

Right on the mark. Naruto jumped as he returned to reality. Jiraiya's influence had stuck itself in his blood. Without complete blood transfusion, he would not be able to get rid of it. Or so he thought. He scurried to hide his embarrassment by thinking of anything to ask. "What happened to the snake?"

Sakura seemed not to understand. Had he spoken so fast that his words came out gibberish?

Sakura said, "You're weird. Why do you still care about that monster? Anyway, the Jonins sealed her again inside her cave. I think she'll not be waking up anytime soon."

"I see. And the guy?" He sighed to himself. He was glad for the change of topic.

"What guy?"

"The guy that the snake heaved out."

"Oh, that bastard. He's currently detained."

Naruto noticed the anger in her voice. He had heard this tone from her before when she spoke of Orochimaru or Madara.

"His name is Takeshi. He's the son of the Tsubasakage. He still hasn't spoken, yet, or rather he can't because of trauma, but the guards of the cave identified him as the perpetrator. No one knows why he did what he did, but I don't care. He should be executed for what he had done. He put his own people in danger."

She was really angry at the guy. He approached the issue using a roundabout route. This was something he had learned in Hensen no Kuusho from his talk on politics with the Third. He only remembered how when he focused enough.

"He'll not be doing that again. Maybe he was just curious or must have had a profound reason for doing that. We should give him another chance."

Sakura frowned. "If you knew that guy, you would not say that. He is trash. He uses his position to get what he wants. He once made a pass on me, you know. I will never forgive him."

"Geez, he must have done something terrible to you. You're not the type to bad-mouth people."

She blushed in anger. "I'd rather just forget about it."

Ripples of anger began to whisper inside him. He had known Sakura long enough to guess what she was mad about. Now he was regretting saving the guy. He should have left him inside the snake as an offering. It could already be considered attempted regicide, anyway, which was punishable by death.

Sakura sighed. "Let's just forget about him."

Silence filled the room. Naruto looked at Sakura. She looked like she had not had any decent sleep in days. Not being able to come up with a topic for discussion, he decided to ask about it.

"Have you been sleeping, Sakura-chan?" he asked.

"I was here, watching over you," she said outright. "I hadn't been able to sleep."

An urge to embrace her occurred to him, but he stopped himself. Then silence.

"This happened because of me," Sakura finally said. "Because of that stupid promise I forced you to make."

"You haven't forced anything on me." He was alarmed. Why had she suddenly brought this topic up? They were trudging on dangerous ground. He desperately sought of a way to escape the net closing in on them. Pity. He was not that smart.

"Don't act as if you don't remember. I know you remember it well. Could you forget about that promise for me?"

"Stop talking like that." He wanted to turn the wheel in the opposite direction to avoid the place they were currently headed. He knew that they were going towards the "hurt" zone. He forced a smile. "Sakura, it'd be better if…"

"But it's true! It was because of me! Sasuke was not worth dying for. I realized it when I lost you."

They were now in that zone. All he could do was to stay quiet. It was true that it had begun from that promise. But it wasn't that simple anymore. After meeting Nagato, who had believed that making people realize that avoiding the things that brought about pain was the only way to gain eternal peace, his priorities changed.

Somehow, Sasuke and Nagato were the same. Like Nagato had been, Sasuke was being consumed by his hatred. If he let him be, Sasuke would become a second Nagato, a second Pain.

However, killing Sasuke was not the solution. Even if he killed every villain in the world who threatened peace, he would just repeat history. He would die not knowing how to deal with people like them. He wanted to save Sasuke because he wanted to know the answer. And also because he was his friend.

He tried to veer away from the discussion. "I'm hungry! Is there anything to eat?"

Sakura hung her head, ignoring him, and muttered, "Master Tsunade told us that he might be still alive since his body was not found. I'd be glad if that assumption was wrong, if he really died."

Naruto just felt his arm swinging towards Sakura. When he realized what he was doing, he had already slapped her. Sakura looked at him with bewildered eyes.

"I will not apologize even if you ask for it." His voice was filled with contempt. He hated the sound of it. It was like someone was speaking for him. "You have no right to be glad about someone's death, even if he is your enemy. I don't want to hear that again from you. Ever."

"I'm sorry, but I will not take back what I said."

Anger took over him. It dictated the next words that came out his mouth. "Don't be conceited. You're not the only person important to me. You are taking our friendship for granted. Unlike you, I had a hard time finding friends. For that reason, I treasure every one of them however temporary they may seem. I'm not the kind of guy who throws away friendship just because a friend did something terrible. Every one of you is more important than my own life." He got up from bed and began to leave.

"Promise me to stop chasing after Sasuke," Sakura pleaded.

"Shut up!"

Why had it turned out like this? He had woken up with a good mood, feeling lightheaded from seeing Sakura by his side. The rocks rolled slowly and he thought it would be a pleasant day for him. Then a crevice appeared and the rocks tumbled into it. Why had Sakura decided to rub the sore spot? It would have been better hearing rejection from her, something like "I'm sorry I can't love you," than an appeal for him to stop with what he had decided a long time ago.

"Naruto, I love you."

The words stopped him.

"I love you."

There was a ring of sincerity to it, but it could be his imagination. After all, he had wished of hearing those same words from Sakura's lips for a long time. However, the situation was the same as the last. The last time she had told him she loved him because she didn't want him to go and meet Sasuke. It hurt more than being stabbed with a kunai a second time in the same wound. Ignoring it, he walked on.

Sakura began to cry. He was convinced it was fake, an added emphasis to poke his conscience. He wanted to hate her for it, but he knew he couldn't. He loved her. This small conflict would not change that fact. He reached the door. Listening if she had stopped, he lingered. She was still crying. He pulled the lever and went out.

…

He couldn't remember how long he had remained crouched at that place. The sun was almost over his head now, so it must be nearing noon. That discussion he had had with Sakura had called up unwanted memories. It was just fortunate for him that he had Yumiko to talk to. With her undivided attention and straightforward answers, he managed to pull himself back to the way he should be.

He sighed. He should forget what had happened and move on. Whispering an apology, he promised to talk with Sakura later. Right now, he should first find out where he had wandered to.

He was leaning against a ruin of a wall. It must have been a building destroyed by war. He could still see the charred edges left by fire on the surface. Some rubbles lay on the ground in untidy heaps. Pieces of wood were scattered everywhere. The place must have been left by itself for a long time since vines had already crept to cover much of the wall and what remained of the columns.

Suddenly, he heard squeals coming from nearby. A chill ran up his spine. More often than not, places ruined by war had ghosts in them, ghosts of those unfortunate people who had lost their lives abruptly and unnecessarily. He gulped. Was he being haunted?

The squeals came again. It was coming from a baby. My God, there had been a baby in here! Naruto closed his eyes and prayed.

"Whoever you are, please go to heaven, already. Your parents are waiting for you." He stiffened when he heard small thuds coming in his direction. The grass that entirely covered the ground rustled as the movement progressed. "Please, I'm not worth it. I'm sorry if I made a girl cry. She had gone overboard. She told me that she'd be happy if a friend of ours died. I couldn't control my emotions. Please, spare me."

"Gagabu!"

"No, please…I'll be good, I promise you. I don't take back my words." He felt a soft hand on his thigh. Somehow, it didn't feel threatening. He next felt the rounded belly of a small child. It was then that he realized that he had made a mistake. He opened his eyes and saw a familiar pudgy baby. She still had the gold lace around her forehead.

"Baba…" The baby was now trying to stand up using his body for support. He noticed her dirty hands and knees. They were stained by grass and dirt.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Ba! Ba!" the baby replied with conviction as if she could understand what he was saying.

Naruto found it cute. He couldn't help smiling. Setting the baby on the grass, he tried to clean her up. "Let's clean these dirty hands, okay."

While Naruto busied himself with the baby's right hand, she found her left hand interesting. She closed and opened it, and then, deciding that it must taste good, tried to put it inside her mouth. Fortunately, Naruto stopped her on time. The baby grimaced and let out a whine. She tugged at her hand.

"No, no. That's a good baby. Let onii-chan clean it up first, okay."

Not being able to take her hand back, she started to cry. Naruto panicked.

"Wait, wait! Please don't cry. Oh, no, what should I do?"

The baby was bawling now. Naruto picked her up and swayed back and forth. The baby's cry became louder. Sweat sprouted out Naruto's forehead. If he were to treat his situation as a ninja mission, he would instantly say Class S. "What should I do? I don't know any lullabies!"

"Calm down," a voice behind him said.

Naruto whirled around and saw a tall man with long hair. He had the same gold lace around his forehead like the baby's. The only difference was the man's center jewel was red.

"The baby can feel the agitation in you. Calm down and assure her that everything is fine," the man went on. "She is not hungry or wet, so it should be easy."

He understood what the man had said. He willed himself to calm down. Focusing on thinking pleasant things, he felt his heart slowing. His breathing returned to normal in a few seconds. The baby's cry became softer as if in response. Eventually, the baby quieted.

Naruto looked at the baby to check. Her nose was red and there were still tracks of tears on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I did that," he found himself saying. "Forgive onii-chan."

The baby sniffed once, and then shifted her attention on the tall man. She smiled and reached out for him. The tall man approached and took her from Naruto.

"Why are you here? Weren't you with Haruno-san?" the tall man asked.

"We had a little misunderstanding. I had to take a walk. When I realized it, I was here." He blinked. Without him noticing it, he had told the stranger the truth.

The tall man smiled, and Naruto became aware of how handsome he was. "By the way, I'm Sagai Haruo. I'm this child's father and the current king of Taka."

He couldn't believe it. He was expecting something more, like a beard and a large body. Wasn't that how kings should be? With a large belly and a huge body? Add it up with a receding hairline and it would be perfect.

"Why are you staring at me?" the King said.

Naruto blushed. "I'm sorry. It's nothing."

"Come. Follow me."

…

A maid escorted Naruto into the King's bathroom. It had a pool, a variety of potted plants, paintings, large windows, and circular columns painted with colorful depictions of dragons and snakes. The maid had said to make himself presentable for the king.

"You can take a dip, Asahi-sama. Please don't mind me," the maid said.

Naruto looked at the maid, incredulously. "Are you serious?"

The maid was obviously attracted to him. "If you will allow me the honor to wash your back, I will not forget about it."

"When the King takes his bath, are you allowed inside?"

"No. He doesn't tolerate a female's presence."

"I feel the same as the King."

The maid kept her stand. "Many people find me attractive. The King even told me I'm cute. Am I not attractive to you?"

Naruto looked her up. She had short, red hair, a nice complexion, a heart-shaped face, and a sexy body. He pushed away the dirty thoughts that began their intrusion into his mind. "That's not the point."

"We won't do anything immoral. I'm just going to wash your back."

He was being tested. And he felt someone watching outside. He could feel an aura of anticipation coming from the door. He got back to the girl. "Are you sure?" The presence got stronger.

The girl hesitantly nodded. "Y-yes."

"If you consent, I won't be punished, right?"

"I can just wash your back, Asahi-sama."

"What if I want _more?_" He deliberately raised his voice. "I mean you're cute. You're attractive. You're sexy."

The maid blushed. "You don't have to praise me too much."

Naruto ignored her. He was observing the door from the corner of his eyes. "Let's see. Close your eyes."

"Asahi-sama!" the maid admonished.

Now he could feel killing intent. He wondered why someone wanted to test him. He grabbed the girl's face and pulled it towards his. The girl braced herself on his arms, her eyes closed, tightly. When only an inch remained before the kiss, the door flew open.

"I knew it! You adulterous cheater! I won't let you off easily!" It was an adolescent woman's voice. The stranger came into the room, wielding two glistening katana in both hands.

"So you were the one who was testing me," Naruto said.

"I'm Prince Yori Sagai, the heir to the throne of Taka, and…" he glared at Naruto. "Your bride."

Naruto looked at Yori. Yori looked back at him.

"Say that again?" Naruto asked.

"I'm your fucking bride, damn it! What are you doing flirting with Aki?"

"Aren't you…a man?"

"So what if I am? Is it now my fault that I found out too early what you really are?"

Might he actually be a woman? Yori stood five-eight with slender shoulders and limbs, small waist, long neck, and short, wavy blue hair. His eyes were green with long lashes and a sad quality about them. His face was small, his eyebrows two perfectly feminine-thin lines, and his lips an excruciatingly appealing set of cherry flesh. His skin was impeccably smooth, rosy from health and white from pampering. The prince, indeed, looked like a woman. But was he?

"Is this a prank?" Naruto said.

"It's not," Yori said, quietly.

"Do you have a fever?"

"I don't."

"Are you sick in here, then?" Naruto pointed at his temple.

"Bastard!"

"Correction. I'm more of an orphan." This got Naruto thinking. "But I'm not sure. My father was good-looking."

"Are you playing me for a fool?" Yori raised a sword at Naruto. "You can't escape by pretending dumb. I'm going to kill you!" He started to dash, his two swords set like the wings of a kingfisher as it dived for prey. "Nitouryu: Backhand Swallow!"

…

The King was trying to make his baby daughter sleep. He was two floors down from his bathroom. Suddenly, the wall of his bathroom exploded. The King jerked his head in the direction of the explosion. He watched as large chunks of rock fell down to the ground. The baby groaned at the noise, but didn't open her eyes.

"What a lively day," the King commented.

…

Naruto evaded Yori's every slash. The two of them reached the woods within the courtyard. Yori was not giving Naruto any time to take a breath. Trees were felled one by one as Yori swished his swords like a berserker gone berserk.

"Naruto! Come back here!" Yori yelled.

This woke Naruto up. The young man knew his name. He raised his hand and called for his surfboard. The window of the room he had woken up in broke as his white surfboard came crashing through it. Leaping off from a tree, he climbed on his surfboard.

Yori looked up. "Naruto! Damn you! Do you think you can scare me with that? Nitouryu: Talon Guillotine!" He leaped off and crossed his arms across his chest, so that his swords rested at his ribs, protruding like horns if seen from the front.

Naruto, now in serious mode, came forward at him, and before Yori could execute the technique, he succeeded in grabbing his arms. His eyes penetrated into Yori's. "Who are you? Why do you know my name?"

Yori struggled. "Let me go! I will not answer you!"

Naruto tightened his grip. "If you don't want me to crush your bones here, you'd better answer me."

"Then crush them! I don't care! You have humiliated a gentleman of royal blood by your adulterous deed. I don't care what will happen to me as long as I kill you!"

"Then, I have no choice—" Naruto suddenly discovered himself clutching nothing. He looked up with wide eyes. "How…?"

The long-haired man between Naruto and Yori inhaled a lungful of air. "Lover's quarrel already? Young couples these days!" He sighed. "I want to be young again." He turned to Naruto. "Let's go down. The wind is strong here. We might get a cold."

…

Naruto, Yori, and the King landed near a fountain. When every one had gotten off, Naruto approached the King.

"Sir, who is this guy? He said that he was my bride," Naruto said.

"He is."

"He is? Are you kidding me?"

"In Taka, marriage between two males is perfectly normal. Don't you find my son attractive?"

The wind blew past. "Okay. I get it. You got me. I surrender. I've been had. Come on." A beat. "Will you stop this 'cause it's making my stomach sick!"

Yori collared Naruto. "Am I that unattractive, huh? Am I?"

Naruto ignored him. "Sir? Come on. This is enough."

A smile curved on the King's lips. "I see that you haven't finished your bath. Let's take a bath together then. Yori, you come with us, too."

"I won't accept this!" Naruto said. "Don't kid around with me! This is sick!"

The King's countenance smoothened. He looked at Naruto with cold eyes. "What if I say to you that the medical techniques of shinobis make us puke? Or their very presence makes our skin crawl? How will you feel?"

The King was pertaining to Sakura and the others. It hit Naruto like a hammerblow. He flinched, embarrassed with himself. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude."

The King smiled. "Let's talk about this like educated human beings." He started to walk. "In the bath."

Naruto glanced at Yori. "Sorry."

"Hmph! I'd be better off committing seppuku than marry a man like you. Cheater," Yori said. He walked up beside the King.

"Tamiko, is Mika asleep?" The King was talking to his eldest daughter, who had the baby princess in her arms.

"Yes, Father." She smiled at Naruto, raising a tentative hand to wave at him.

…

The King and Naruto sat side by side in the large pool of hot water. They had gone to a nearby floating island exclusive for the king's use. Yori was washing his back on the platform. He really looked like a woman from behind.

"Where do you want me to start?" the King asked. He noticed that Naruto was watching Yori. "Are you getting aroused from looking at Yori?" A bar of soap flew towards his face. He evaded it.

"Don't force any ideas in his head, Father!"

The King laughed. "He's very popular with guys."

"Seriously, I can't really marry him," Naruto said. "It's unusual. I get goose bumps just by thinking about it."

"Of course, you can't do intercourse with him—"

"Just stop! Stop, okay. Don't add to my stress." Naruto shivered. "That is nauseating."

The King shook his head, smiling. "You're really honest, eh. I find it rare to have someone talk to me like that. Usually, they kiss my ass to gain my favor."

"Did you really mean it when you said to talk about this like educated human beings? What you just said is pretty vulgar."

"An educated man knows more vulgarity than a peasant." The King chuckled, and then paused. "Marriage is commensurate to eternal service. For seventeen years, Yori hasn't had someone to serve but me. But thanks to you, he can now make use of his training. Yori is a superb swordsman and every bit a samurai. He is forever loyal. You will need him, trust me."

"I'm not bothered with that. I'm bothered with the fact that he sees me as his husband."

"Forget about the relationship. You have your own principles, and we cannot force you to accept ours in a matter of a day. I'm only asking you to accept him as your companion." The King poured himself some sake and drank. "Do you know that it was my first time seeing him this happy?"

"Happy? You think he is happy?"

"Since he looks like a woman, he needs to act tough. But I'm his father. I can see through his fake façade."

"You're a dirty dealer, attacking my conscience like this."

The King laughed. He changed the topic. "Those marks represent the Reverse Hakke Fuin, right?"

"Yes."

"So, you're now in the State of Shihai."

Naruto looked at the King. "Before I answer that, I need you to answer some of my questions first."

"Go on."

"How did you know my real name?"

"I also knew that Lotus-sama's real name is Hashirama Senju."

"You know who he is?"

"Yes. He was my master. Before I became king, I used to work under him."

Naruto gaped. "You mean you were married to him."

"Not anything like that. I was his student. In special cases, I had been his double." The King smiled at Naruto. "He is the greatest shinobi that has ever lived." He drank another cup of sake. "I know that you came from Konoha."

"That, too?"

"I read it from the message he had sent me." The King put his thumb and forefinger in his mouth and whistled. A familiar eagle entered the bath and perched itself on the King's shoulder.

"Yuudai!" Naruto blurted out.

The eagle harked. The King tapped the eagle's wing. It understood and flew away.

"Before you arrived, I'd already had his message," the King said.

"Was he asking anything of you?"

"Yes. He wanted me to send him Jin, my strongest samurai. Jin is in Ine, now, buffing up the security of the kingdom. The only remaining samurai who can match him in battle is Shinta. But Shinta's skill with the sword is second rate. He uses his brains more. I can only send my son or go myself. I was in a dilemma."

"You were in a dilemma? What's wrong with sending your son?"

"He's my heir. He can't freely go out of Taka on his own. I was already prepared to go if something like this didn't happen. The incident was rather a blessing for me and my Kingdom. Yori hates politics and is still too young to carry the responsibility of the crown. But I can't just ignore Hashirama-sensei's request."

Naruto glanced at the King, suspiciously. "Hmmm….something smells fishy."

"I know what you're thinking, but I didn't tell Takeshi to unseal the Queen of Serpents. It was just coincidence. As I said, I was already ready to go in Jin's stead."

Naruto crossed his arms, thinking. "A swordsman, eh. What could possibly be the reason Hashirama-sensei still needs a swordsman?"

"Shinobis and swordsmen are different. And Hashirama-sensei wants a swordsman who will completely be loyal to him. He cannot trust any swordsman who doesn't come from Taka." The King smiled, broadly. "That's why you two are now engaged." He tipped his chin to indicate his son.

"You could've just made him my apprentice!"

"He's older than you by one year. It can't be done."

Yori dipped himself into the water, sitting across his father and Naruto.

Naruto looked at Yori. _Damn. He really looks like a girl._ "Excuse me, Yori-san—"

"Don't be too formal with me!"

"You don't have to yell!"

Yori crossed his arms. "What is it?"

Naruto cleared his throat. "Are you g—?"

The King covered Naruto's mouth. He whispered to his ear, "If you ask that to a boy of royal blood, he can legally slash your head off. Even I am not immune from that. As it is, it's not safe. He's still mad about your adventurous escapade this afternoon. You have to discover it yourself."

"What do you want to know?" Yori said.

Naruto leaned over to the King. "He seems to be taking this too seriously."

The King nodded. "Be careful. He's quite the possessive type."

Naruto blanched. He stared gaping at the beautiful bishonen.

"Don't just stare there like an idiot," Yori said.

Naruto found what to ask. "How does shinobis and swordsmen different?"

"Something to be expected from someone who came from the East."

"Nani!"

"Basically, styles. Unlike shinobis, we swordsmen are dependent on our swords and focus more on kenjutsu. You, on the other hand, on your ninjutsu."

"I already know that."

"Are you being arrogant with me?" Yori stood up.

Naruto stood up as well. "Do you have a problem with that?"

The King calmly drank sake. "My, my. I'm glad to see you getting along well with each other."

"No way! Hmph!" Both the boys spat.

"Yori, can you show your husband how you use an _amplifier_?"

Naruto was intrigued. "Amplifier?"

"Amplifier is a type of armor," Yori offered. He got out of the water, wrapping a towel around his lower half, and went to his things. He produced a red and white ball from his knapsack and tossed it in front of him. "If you have summoning technique, we have this." The ball exploded into smoke.

Naruto waited with anticipation as the smoke cleared. His eyes widened when light struck it. It was indeed an armor. It stood ten feet high with long limbs and a samurai ogre mask. The limbs of the armor were red, while the head and torso were white, just like the ball.

"This is made of pure steel and carbon crystals. The summoning sphere acts like your summoning contract and draws the unit out from the dimension where we hide it. This amplifier, by the way, is called Auria," Yori said.

"How does it work?"

"By my own chakra. You are familiar with puppeteers, right? Amplifier engineers make it so that we can control the unit from inside using Agua jewels hammered into thin wires to act as an extension of our chakra circulatory system. We activate the oracle crystal here…" he pointed at the amplifier's chest, "…by filling it with chakra—" Yori stopped when he saw Naruto's blank face. He run to get his short sword and knelt in front of his father. "I've had enough of this fool! I'm better off committing seppuku!"

Naruto was immediately in front of him. He slapped the short sword from Yori's hands. "Don't be over dramatic. I don't like our engagement as much as you do. But I won't let you throw up your life just because I'm not what you expected me to be. I hate narrow-minded people."

"You have the guts to—"

Naruto pulled Yori up. He stared into the bishonen's green eyes. "Honor is not worth throwing your life for. Don't show how weak you are in front of me, especially your father. Besides," his tone changed, "I'm getting impressed, so don't go 'ack' on me and leave the explanation hanging." He put his arm around Yori's shoulder and pulled him close. "To tell you the truth, it's hard for me to understand unfamiliar things with words. Could you just demonstrate how you use it?"

"You're gonna take responsibility for this," Yori threatened.

"I don't understand, but okay."

King Haruo was smiling while he sipped his sake.

"Okay, let's get it over with." Yori went behind the amplifier and got inside it. Light came on from its eyes. The fingers moved, testing its mobility. Naruto could feel the pulse of chakra coming from the amplifier. "I'm ready, now." The voice sounded metallic.

"What do you say? Do you want to try it out?" the King asked.

Naruto smiled.

…

King Haruo was excited to see the match. For five years, except maybe Jin and himself, no one had defeated his son Yori in a kendo match. At a young age, Yori was already considered as the best Nitouryu swordsman in Taka. He was also the inventor of Nitouryu Tori Style, which comprised of techniques he had created by observing birds. To top it off, Yori was a prodigy in handling amplifiers.

Naruto, on the other hand, was simply described by Lotus as his ace. Lotus had high standards, and for him to give such commendation to a subordinate, Naruto must be something else. In addition, he had dominated the Queen of Serpents by killing intent alone. He was also a fourth-level Jinchuuriki, a Jonin S, and a shinobi who had defeated a Sennin. King Haruo wondered how long his son would last.

He took the two young warriors to the Royal Arena. In here, many battles had been fought. Men had killed men in this place. This was the epitome of Taka's long history of martial arts and sheer brutality.

The Royal Arena had been restored many times, but the restorers had kept its original design. It was a large circular structure made of clay bricks. It could house around ten thousand spectators. The battlefield at the center had a circular stage where the warriors faced off. Around the stage was dry ground, which in the past had caught bashed skulls, torn bodies, or decapitated heads. One would feel the heavy feeling of death in the air once inside the harmless-looking, gruesome structure.

"Wow, this is great!" Naruto said. "This is my first time seeing an actual arena."

"Simpleton," Yori said with the Auria's metallic voice. He didn't stop to ogle. He went straight to the circular platform.

Naruto followed and stood opposite Yori. King Haruo noticed excitement on his face. He got the impression that Naruto liked trying out new things and challenging himself. That was a good attribute for a warrior.

"An amplifier, as the word denotes, increases the strength of its user by ten folds or more depending on the level of mastery the user has acquired. Are you sure you want to fight me?" Yori said.

"Of course. I want to know the extent of a swordsman's power," Naruto said.

King Haruo had to smile. From books, he had read that most Jinchuurikis exuded cold, sinister auras. They were also loners and pessimists beyond help. But Naruto was different. He was confident and a positive-thinker. He also had this quality that gravitated people.

These impressions raised King Haruo's hopes. Being his son, Yori had been alone most of his life. No one wanted to be friends with him because he was the heir to the throne. Everyone bowed at his presence. People didn't show what they truly thought about him in fear of punishment. His conversations revolved around adult things. He had no one to talk to about things that he was interested in.

When Yori had learned about the incident involving the Queen of Serpents, he actually smiled, a genuine smile that King Haruo hadn't seen for a long time. Yori was adamantly refusing the arrangement, but he was smiling that smile. It was small and almost imperceptible that only King Haruo had been able to notice it.

"I'm not going to marry him!" Yori had said. King Haruo couldn't help but smile. His son was excited for the first time.

If Yori could be with Naruto, he might learn how to finally open up and be truthful to himself. From the look of things, Naruto had already begun prying off the lid on Yori's heart.

He said a small prayer of gratitude to the heavens.

"Final answer?" Yori asked.

"Final answer. So, what are you waiting for?" Naruto said.

"Show me your true strength," King Haruo muttered.

…

Yori believed that he would be able to defeat Naruto. A fool like Naruto wouldn't stand a chance against him. He was too strong for the shinobi. Even if Naruto was the rumored savior that defeated the Queen of Serpents using killing intent alone, his level of swordsmanship and piloting was only a bit lower than Jin's or his father's.

He started his attack. The Auria's speed made his perception of things pinpoint sharp. Fast moving objects seemed to float in slow motion in the air.

Ahead of him, there was Naruto. He raised his arm and delivered a punch. He deliberately missed. The strength of the punch caused a great explosion of dust and chunks of bricks. Parts of the platform were lifted from the ground. "How's that?" he said. He was expecting to see no one in front of his amplifier.

"Are you actually a bit blind?" Naruto said.

Yori looked up. Naruto was standing at exactly the same spot. The right arm of his amplifier was buried in the ground a foot away from Naruto. It was humiliating. He felt his cheeks getting hot.

"You!"

He pulled his arm and began his attack again. This time no more threats. Naruto somersaulted backwards, evading his every attempt to deliver a clean hit. Eventually, he cornered Naruto against the fence. He made his amplifier unsheathe its swords. "Nitouryu: Eagle Sweep!" He saw with grim satisfaction how his slash cut the air and how the pressure resulting from it sliced through the audience' seats. The sharp air pressure reached a column at the top, cutting through it. An X appeared on the column's surface. A few moments later, the column crashed down.

The level of damage was undoubtedly something to be proud of, but his target had been long gone. He cursed under his breath. He hadn't expected Naruto to be this fast.

"You really are serious about killing me, aren't you?" Naruto said behind him.

Yori whirled around and saw Naruto perched on top of the fence across him. He thought that his attacks had been for nothing, but the sight of Naruto breathing hard rekindled his spirit. He smiled. He knew he could do it. His amplifier's speed was enough to tire Naruto out.

…

Naruto couldn't deny the effect of using his full speed just to dodge the Auria's attacks. The weapon was amazing! He wondered if he could use one, too, then dismissed the idea as soon as it occurred. How would he handle such a foreign weapon if he could barely grasp the intricacies of piloting one? Besides, by inspection alone, he knew that no shinobi would be able to use ninjutsu inside an amplifier. Technique executions required absolute control of chakra: its amount and quality. An amplifier would not be able to provide the means for such requisite.

Putting that aside, he knew that he was at a disadvantage. He remembered his fight with the archer Kaguya, where even executing a technique had been difficult to do. Compared to the Auria, Kaguya was at the level of speed that he could still catch up to. The Auria was different altogether. Its speed alone prohibited him to use Kage Bushin Technique, for every clone he created, a fraction of his original speed disappeared. It was because he got the spring for his muscles from his chakra. Fighting against Yori was like fighting Rock Lee in a way. Only that Yori's weapon had an enhanced physical prowess.

Yori began his attack, again, and Naruto could not even see an after image of the amplifier. It was like it could disappear by sorcery. Now that he could not depend on his eyes anymore, he'd better employ another method.

"Sage Mode!" He instantly felt the amplifier's presence, and it was moving in a grueling speed. "Summoning Technique: Akira!"

The Auria appeared in front of him in the middle of slashing him in two. Fortunately, there was Akira, a master swordsman frog. Akira might be small, but his skill was the real deal. He was a red, tree frog with markings like the tattoo of a Yakuza's. His limbs were bandaged, and he always carried his sword with him.

"Just in time, boss. I'm bored," Akira said as he watched the approach of the amplifier's blade. He blocked the slash and twisted his sword, changing the course of Auria's blade away from Naruto. Using the misdirected momentum, Akira reversed his sword, clipped the hilt of Auria's blade, and jerked a twist. Auria's blade came off from its hand and flew away. The blade landed on its tip and planted itself in the pavement. Akira now used Naruto's shoulder to push himself forward. He sent a slash across the amplifier's torso. His sword sliced through it. It was a clean hit. However, it was not what it seemed to be. Akira noticed the inconsistency. "Boss, get away!"

Naruto found himself face-to-face with Auria. Yori had managed to use his amplifier's speed to step into the gap between him and Akira. The amplifier sent an incredibly fast straight towards him.

"Earth Release: Earth Wall!" As the wall grew out the ground, Naruto leaped and pushed himself against it. Auria's steel fist went through the dam, shattering it. Naruto skidded across the dirt.

Now Naruto was beginning to realize the difference in style between a shinobi and a swordsman. With the use of an amplifier, a swordsman could be a superhuman. And unlike a shinobi who converted energy into natural elements or into a system utilizing physical force to attack, a swordsman converted energy into pure power, like what Rock Lee and Gai had mastered. The only difference of Yori from Lee was he didn't have to worry about his body's limitations, for his metal weapon would worry about it for him.

"Now you know how far behind you are from me," Yori said. "Admit defeat and let's stop this. You need to train more."

Yori's words were filled with arrogance, but Naruto was thrilled upon hearing them. He threw away his inhibitions. He decided that Yori was worth dying fighting against. The future didn't matter for now. If he let himself be defeated in this match, how could he show his face to Hashirama, Tobirama, Hiruzen, his father, and mother? How would he defend that he had grown stronger after training for two years in Hensen no Kuusho? How would he affirm that he was deserving of Yumiko's powers? No more thinking. No more calculating. It was not him in the first place. Thinking was for smart guys like Shikamaru. Going all out was his way, recklessness his attribute. He would defeat Yori with everything he'd got.

"Akira, attack when you have the opportunity. I'm going all out!"

The samurai frog smiled. "Now, that's more like it. Okay, boss, I'd synch with you."

"Just remember not to do fatal damage! You know what I'm talking about. He's wearing armor!"

"Got ya, boss!"

Naruto called out his surfboard. "With Sage Mode, molding chakra is a piece of cake." He began to form seals. "Earth Release: Earth Columns!" Large, cylindrical columns grew out in a line towards Auria. One by one, growing with a promise of great damage one after the other, the columns shot out towards the sky.

"Heh. Is that all you got? Don't underestimate me!" Yori demonstrated his superiority in strength by cutting four columns with one slash. Evading another column, he detoured to fetch the sword that had flown off his amplifier's hand.

Naruto made columns grew where Auria was. Four columns shot up from the ground. Yori's Auria jumped on one and let itself be carried up. Naruto used a new innovation in the technique he had learned recently. He called forth a column that could bend on his whim, so that it could directly attack its target. The thick column rushed forward towards Auria like a snake.

"Nitouryu: Crow Swing!" Yori made his Auria whirled itself into a tornado, and then he free fell down the top of the snake-like column. The hardness of the earth column was no match against Auria's raging blades. They easily pulverized Naruto's earth column. "This is my victory!"

Naruto used the distraction provided by the column to fly near the Auria. "Let's see how a metal tornado fares against a true tornado. Sage Art: Wind Sphere Shockwave!" Naruto formed a medium-size Rasengan and thrust it into the Auria. Wind accumulated around the spiraling sphere, and in no time, a horizontal tornado was formed. It sucked up the centripetal force of Yori's Crow Swing and ate it up altogether. The tornado burst out, dragging the Auria with it. Naruto's tornado and the Auria crashed into the audience seat, bringing about a lot of damage to the structure.

…

Yori wasn't prepared for that attack. He couldn't blame himself, anyway, since it was his first time fighting against Naruto. But, nonetheless, he was impressed.

Naruto had stopped attacking. Even though he was an elite shinobi, he was still human. Utilizing chakra was like breathing. You needed to breathe when you had depleted the air in your lungs. Yori used the reprieve to get on his feet.

The red frog seemed to be waiting still for its chance to attack. He didn't know about what the frog was thinking, but if he were the frog, he would take the opportunity to attack now. He was grateful the frog had not made its move.

He got up from the crater and looked up at Naruto. Naruto was up there on his surfboard, breathing hard. He was right. The consecutive techniques had worn him out. He could now make use of his apparent advantage over him. With an amplifier, a small amount of input produced a big amount of output. That was why he did not tire, easily. And because the amplifier was made of steel and carbon crystals, possible injuries were maintained to the minimum.

"This is the last time. Surrender," Yori said. He waited for a reply, but Naruto just smiled. That arrogance made his heart contract. "As you wish." He twirled his blades and assumed an offensive stance. "You'll regret this. Nitouryu: Talon Guillotine—" His ears caught a rumbling sound overhead. He jerked his head up. Blinded by sunlight, he could only manage a glimpse of the falling object. The next thing he knew, something crashed on his amplifier. It was heavier because of gravitational acceleration. It pushed his Auria into the ground. Then there was only blinding light.

The fallen object exploded.

_To be continued…_

Author's Note:

These are just some points to help in recalling.

OC GUIDE: Important Characters. Anyone not on the list are either easy to remember, has little role in the story, or not yet introduced. You can add names here if you want. Names that I missed.

REAL WORLD

_Yumiko._ The true self of the Demon Fox. Age: Unknown. Stands about 5'6''. Currently married to Naruto. Has black hair that reached the ground. Goddess-like beautiful. In love with Naruto.

_Akabari Midori_. She is the true heir to the throne of Kogiwara. Age: 17. Stands about 5'4''. Currently training in Tanimori to perfect her Akabari Dancing Lance Style. Long, black hair, green eyes, and dimples on cheeks. Boyish with elegance. Prefers white kimono and hakama.

_Akabari Hiromi_. She is Midori's little sister. She is very bright. She likes to sing. Age: 8. Long, black hair, cute. Mature for her age. Currently with her sister in Tanimori.

_Shibari Tsuneo_. He is Midori and Hiromi's surrogate dad. Age: 56. Smokes a pipe. Stands about 5'11''. A ninja of Ishigakure. Average looking. Brown hair and goatee. Prefers green kimono. Currently with Midori in Tanimori.

_Matsuda Saki._ She is Midori and Hiromi's surrogate mom. Age: 36. Stands about 5'5''. Simple but beautiful. Long, black hair. Pretty and appealing. A ninja of Ishigakure. Tsuneo's apprentice. Has a crush on Naruto. Prefers black kimono. Currently with Midori in Tanimori.

_Suigin Setsuko._ She has the bloodline limit Iron Release. Age: 18. Stands about 5'5''. Shoulder-length, sun-bleached hair. Brown eyes. Tan skin. Cute face with masculine brows. Wild-type pretty. Has a crush on Naruto. Wears wolf's skin. Currently in Tanimori with Hashirama.

_Zuko._ A monk under Hashirama. Age: 32. A Sennin. Stands about 6'0''. Has a wooden rosary around his neck. Uses 'force' as primary attack. Bald. Fond of Naruto. Currently travelling to deliver a red scroll to the Sumiragi Clan and a blue scroll to Morigakure.

_Uchiha Chiasa._ She is one of the Ancient Uchihas, who have five-point Sharingan. Age: 16. Stands about 5'6''. Slightly messy, black hair. Pretty but seldom smiles. She doesn't approve of Naruto, yet. She has Tsunade's necklace that Naruto has given her as compensation for an uncalled-for kiss. Cynical. Currently in Tanimori with Hashirama.

_Hitatsu Reiko._ She is Hashirama's medical-nin. Age: 26. Stands about 5'8". Long, wavy blonde hair. Red eyes. Her face is usually devoid of emotion. Has a crush on Naruto. Reticent. Currently in Tanimori with Hashirama.

_Inuzuka Momoko._ She is a gifted taijutsuist of the Inuzuka Clan. Age: 18. Stands about 5'7''. Unruly, brown hair. Perfect skin the color of dark chocolate. Very pretty. Walnut eyes. Curvy but muscular body. Considered an eye candy. Tomboyish with anyone but Naruto. Is deeply in love with Naruto. Currently in Taka as a medical instructor.

_Hyuuga Aika._ She is a prodigy of the Hyuuga Hybrid. Age: 13. Stands about 5'0''. Short, white hair. Adorable. Very cute. Cheerful. Is deeply infatuated with Naruto. She uses her Hybrid Byakugan and God Reflex in fighting. Currently in Tanimori with Hashirama.

_Inuzuka Katsuo._ He is a large guy who can talk to wolves. Age: 18. Stands about 5'9. Heavy and muscular. Bald with scalp tattooed with symbolic Inuzuka symbols. Uses Lion's Roar and Sacred Wolf Mode. Gentle. Currently with Hashirama in Tanimori.

_Sumiragi Kaguya._ The 67th heiress to the throne of Sumiragi Clan. Age: 15. Stands about 5'2''. A superb archer. Long, black hair parted at the center. Beautiful and intelligent. Has a crush on Naruto. Currently in Taka with Naruto.

_Sagai Tamiko._ She is the eldest daughter of King Sagai Haruo. Age: 9. Friendly, pretty, and intelligent. Very protective of her baby sister Mika. Naruto has saved them both from the Queen of Serpents. Currently with the King in Taka.

_Sagai Yori._ The heir to the throne of Taka. Age: 17. Stands about 5'8''. A bishonen. Cuter than most girls. Looks feminine. Short, wavy blue hair. Green eyes. Perfect face and captivating smile. A samurai, two-sword style. Uses amplifier Auria. Has a crush on Naruto. He is engaged to Naruto. Currently in Taka with his father, King Haruo.

_Sagai Haruo._ He is the king of Taka. Age: 58. Stands about 5'9''. Handsome. Long, black hair. Has a laid back personality. Has been a student of Hashirama. Currently in Taka.

_Hibarashi Shibari._ Owns the Hibarashi Estate. Age: 122. Stands about 3'3''. Very wise. Frail and blind.

BEAST WORLD: VILLAGE OF DOGS

_Kinjo._ Naruto's summon. A white, speed-type wolf with blind left eye. In wolf-man form, he is a beautiful, white haired man.

_Bakuryu._ Naruto's summon. A black, muscle-type wolf. In wolf-man form, he is a beautiful, black haired man.

_Cujo._ Naruto's summon. A gray, speed-type wolf. In wolf-man form, he is a beautiful, dreadlocked, gray haired man.

_Haruki._ A goddess-looking wolf-woman. Kinjo's wife.

_Baba._ The co-founder of Village of Dogs. A mix-breed of poodle and wolf. Has an ankle-length, curly hair with red highlights at the edges. Very beautiful for her age.

_Kiri._ The founder of Village of Dogs. A ghost. A handsome man with ankle-length, flowing hair. He was Baba's lover.

_The Elder. _Wolf's Districts administrator.

_Paku. _A pug. Pakkun's brother. Smokes tobacco. Kakashi's main summon for now.

_Ika._ A brunette bulldog. Paku's wife.

MYOBUKUZAN

_Akira._ A small, red samurai frog. Limbs bandaged. Wielding a katana.

VILLAINS

_Jocho Shizumaru. _Introduced only as primary suspect for falsifying Naruto's corpse.

_Shitto._ One of the Left Wing. A master corpse puppeteer. A Sennin. Stands about 5'11''. White hair. Looks like Tsuneo. Constant grin on the face.

_Kagitora._ Current and living ruler of Kogiwara.

That's all for now. I hope this helps a little.

Thanks for the reviews, guys. Appreciate it.

Sorry I wasn't able to update on time. I'll try if I can update chapter 38 this weekend.

Smile.


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38: The Future Queen's Return

Yori could hear his own breath inside the cockpit. Had he made it? Was he already dead? He tasted blood in his mouth, and there was a wet feeling on his cheek. Gingerly, he touched it and felt a sticky liquid. Blood. Naruto's last attack had inflicted a large damage on his unit. He was sure of it. His amplifier's left arm was missing. He couldn't make its right leg move. Was he unable to fight, anymore?

He diffused the chakra shield, which he had used to protect himself from total destruction, and looked up. Naruto had fallen on all four on his surfboard, breathing hard. His eyes were only half open. With a large explosion like that, he knew that Naruto had used an excessive amount of chakra. If he remembered correctly, no normal explosives had inflicted such great damage on his unit before. But Naruto's bomb, or whatever it was, had not only destroyed his amplifier's Agua wire circuitry. It had also amputated his amplifier's left arm.

He smiled. What a fighter. If it was with Naruto, he could accept the marriage. His doubt of the shinobi's capability had vanished. He had proven to him that he was indeed Lotus's ace. If he married him, his honor would not only remain, he might also receive a higher respect from his people, which was needed to rule a kingdom, successfully. With that in mind, Yori decided that he would not let Naruto go. He would be his wife. And he would do everything so that Naruto would like him.

Then, suddenly, something nagged at him. Would Naruto accept him? He was male, after all. He knew that in Sanmyaku marriage between two males or two females was normal and even encouraged. People of Sanmyaku believed that the Law of Nature should not be opposed. According to this belief, only nature could dictate who a person should live with until his or her death. Nature sent out signs for the people to notice, and some of these signs were sent through people's hearts. However, Naruto had come from a place that this kind of belief was condemned. It was an abomination to them, something strange and out of place. He had already seen how Naruto adamantly refused their arrangement. Would he be able to change Naruto's opinion?

What was left for him was to try. He could tell the truth about him to Naruto. That he was originally female and his body had been given to him by a tribesman using supernatural means. That his body was a _pod._ Only his father and younger sister knew about this. It was the reason his man-hater baby sister Mika felt comfortable with him. But would Naruto believe? It would be a shock. First, the legality of same sex marriage. Then this.

No time to hesitate. He would be Naruto's wife. This was not only for himself. It was also for the realization of a promise that whoever defeated him would be his husband or his wife. He was just grateful that it turned out to be Naruto. Now, what he would do was to show Naruto that he deserved to be with him. He could still move. Naruto was already exhausted. This was his chance—

"Do you still want to continue?" Naruto asked. "This is not a death match, right?"

The guts! In an instant, his pride buried his admiration for the shinobi. "You haven't defeated me, yet, you monkey! Don't underestimate me!"

"I've already won," Naruto rasped. He raised his hand up and pointed at the sky. Then he dropped it to point at Yori. "Shoot! Wind God Art: Kamikaze!"

Yori heard the same rumbling sound again coming from above. No. He couldn't let it hit him. He tried to force Auria to move. "Move! Move! Damn it!" The legs of the Auria trembled at the strain. "MOVE!" At last, it registered motion. "That's it!" He tried to leap, but then he was pulled back. "What?" He looked at Auria's left foot and blanched. The red frog's katana was sticking out of it. Movements from the corner of his eyes. It was Akira. "No, no, no!" He poured everything he had left to evade. "Moooove!"

The frame of time seemed to freeze. Yori gaped in terror.

…

He was drained. His limbs trembled. Tears profusely oozed from his beautiful eyes. The fear of death still lingered at the edges of his consciousness. This was the first time he had cried since he was a toddler. This was the first time he had experienced the terror of almost dying. He could not believe that he was capable of acting like this. He thought he was tough enough, but the experience pulled the girl side of his soul and wrapped him with it.

The back panel of his amplifier was pried open. Sunlight rushed inside the cockpit. Naruto hunkered at the edge of the entryway. "I told you."

"Shut up!" Yori said, hiding his wet face.

"Hey, I didn't go on with it."

Yori could hear him, his warm, consoling voice and gentle tone. But he ignored him. Suffer! He knew he had no right to act that way with the body of a male, but he could not help it. The man that was casting a shadow on him from the entryway of his cockpit had defeated him not only physically, but also mentally and—even though it was difficult to swallow—emotionally.

"Aren't you a gentleman of royal blood? Why are you crying silly like a girl? Be a man!"

He whirled at Naruto. "Shut up! I've the right since I'm a girl!"

Naruto stood up and jumped off onto his surfboard. "I'm tired. I've no energy to react."

"Yori! Yori, are you all right?" Yori heard his father called out from below. Then he heard the thud of a body and the cluck of wood. "Naruto-san!" his father yelled.

Yori's heart raced. "Naruto?" He looked down from the cockpit and saw Naruto lying on the ground with his surfboard. His father and the red frog stood beside the shinobi. Yori jumped off from his amplifier. First, he felt concern looking at Naruto's pathetic state. Then, the urge to take revenge took over him. "So, you drained yourself dry even before you could get your trophy. If I was an enemy, I could easily take your life."

"I know you won't do that," Naruto said, weakly. "Akira, turn me over. I can't move my body."

The frog rolled Naruto over so that he was supine on the ground. "You have really gone all out, boss. Fantastic!" Akira said.

"No more jokes, Yori. I don't think I can take even a corny one. It'll kill me," Naruto said.

"Are you saying that I'm a liar?" Yori spat.

Akira said, "Boss, I have to tell you something."

"Go ahead," Naruto said.

"This guy's body is a pod."

Yori saw how flabbergasted Naruto was. It was obvious that Naruto knew about pods. "How do you know that?" he asked.

Akira looked at him. "I felt something bestial in you."

The word 'bestial' made Yori's blood boil. "Do you know that frogs are a main delicacy here?"

"That so? I can live with it. Anyway, what I meant was your body came from our world, the Beast World. I don't know the story behind it, but I can't be wrong." Akira turned to Naruto. "Boss, this guy's a woman."

"You know that, too?" Yori said.

"So, it's true," Naruto said. "Thanks, Akira."

"Anytime, boss." Akira turned to Yori. "Kid, more training on concentration, okay. Your slashes waste too much energy and space, but you have good wrists and your movements are graceful. You have a bright future in swordsmanship."

"I don't need a frog to tell me that!" Yori said.

Akira smirked, and then he turned to King Haruo. "Sir." To Yori and Naruto: "Kid, boss, I'm going. Oh, by the way, Chief Gamabunta said to say hi to you. The Gama bros miss you."

"Tell them I'm fine."

After giving Naruto a two-finger salute, he disappeared into smoke.

Yori felt a hand on his shoulder and saw that it was his father's. King Haruo gestured with his chin. Both of them walked away from Naruto. When they were out of Naruto's earshot, King Haruo spoke.

"Are you sure you want to go on with this? He might think we are a family of lunatics."

Yori said, "I will become his wife, Father. He needs to know the truth."

"He might not accept it."

"I don't care! Father, he is my only way out of here. I've waited for a long time for someone like him to come. I'll not let this chance slip by. The Bind of the Crown will not be able to touch me anymore. The Council of Elders won't have any reason to stop me. I can finally avenge my mother."

"I know that."

"Isn't this what you want? Because you are the king, you haven't had the opportunity to do it yourself. Father, I'm already decided. I'll marry Naruto." A beat. "I promise you. I'll bring you _that_ person's head." Yori looked at Naruto and solidified his decision. His admiration for him was genuine, and he would be happy to marry him in any other circumstance. It was just that Naruto was also his ticket out of Taka.

His position had given him difficulty. He could not marry just anyone. Because he was the heir to the throne, he could only marry a person of high status. And if he was not married to anyone, the Bind of the Crown had power over his life. It assured that the kingdom surely got her king if something unexpected happened. The heir was therefore subjected to overprotection. He was not allowed to go outside the kingdom even if he had a legion of army with him. Slight disrespect directed at him was considered a capital crime and was punishable by death. And everywhere he went outside the castle, he was surrounded by an elite group of bodyguards.

That was the reason Yori had never gone out of the castle for years.

But now that he had found his future husband, the power of the Bind of the Crown did not apply to him any longer. Marriage was sacred. If the heir married someone not of the kingdom, his rights to the throne would be stripped from him. He could only regain them if his spouse pledged to an oath of allegiance to the kingdom. In addition, the Council of Elders would not be able to argue against the marriage. Naruto was a hero. He was a shinobi under Lord Lotus. And most important, he conquered the Queen of Serpents, which was considered a symbol of great power in Sanmyaku.

Naruto was Yori's stepping stone towards the justice that eluded his family for many years. And, as if a bonus from the gods, he was the man his woman soul had chosen.

…

Naruto was taken back to his room on a stretcher. Yori and the red-head maid were with him the entire time. Even though he had already told them that he only needed a few minutes of rest to recover, they still stayed. King's orders, said the maid. Yori said that he didn't need to explain his presence. Because of this, Naruto couldn't fall asleep.

After about forty minutes inside the room, the door opened and King Haruo poked his head inside the room. He told Yori and the maid to leave Naruto for a while because he had a visitor. The three people left. After a few moments, the door opened again, and then Sakura entered. She was approaching him, tentatively.

Naruto sat up. He had already regained most of his strength. "Sakura-chan!"

Sakura was a little surprised at the greeting. "Naruto…"

"I'm sorry for earlier. I didn't mean to slap you."

"I should be the one apologizing."

Naruto saw the smile slowly curling on her pretty lips. He knew that he had succeeded on making her at ease. "If you're here to check for injuries, I don't have any."

"I know. I was watching."

"You were watching?"

"King Haruo called for me and some of his elite commanders to watch the match."

"Where were you?"

"Somewhere far. Let's leave it at that. King Haruo told us to keep it a secret."

"Mmm."

"Naruto, about what I said earlier, I'm taking it back."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow. "What in particular?"

"Everything, I guess."

Naruto smiled. "Would you keep the last one?"

Sakura glanced up at him.

"Just kidding," Naruto said. "Aren't you supposed to be teaching right now?"

"Shikamaru has taken the week to teach how to process herbal plants to my class. I don't have a class for two days more."

Naruto was cynical about the idea. He could only imagine Shikamaru under a tree watching the clouds as they passed by. "He might teach your students to be lazy."

Sakura giggled. "Shikamaru is lazy, yes, but he can be reliable in these kinds of instances. Don't criticize him too much."

"I'm only kidding."

"I know." A beat. "Naruto, about Sasuke…"

"Sakura…"

"I have faith in you."

Naruto almost let out a gasp. He decided to be blunt. "No ulterior motive this time?"

Sakura blushed. "That time, the time after Pain attacked Konoha, was the first and last time I lied to you."

Naruto blinked. "Could that possibly mean…"

Sakura looked into his eyes. "All the things I told you are true."

"You mean…"

"Let's not talk about it. You have a plan, right?"

He didn't have any. "Yes. I think I know what I'm supposed to do."

"Good. Naruto, after I watched how you won against the prince, I realized something. You're strong enough now to defeat Sasuke. I know that before I was doubtful that you would be able to do it, but now, I'm sure that you can. You're very strong, now. You're already too far ahead of us."

"Sakura, you should not be thinking like that. You sound like you're alienating yourself from me." He paused. "But, it's true. I needed to be strong. I need strength to protect everything that is important to me."

"Just don't overdo it, okay?"

"I'm not sure about that."

Sakura reached out for his right hand. "Look at this. Your hand is already like a farmer's."

Naruto liked the sensation of her soft, candle-like fingers on his hand. The warmth her hand was sending into his palm made his heart beat in a mellow rhythm. "While yours is like a princess'."

A beat. "Do you want to kiss me, Naruto?"

If his situation was the same as it had been in the past, he would have already frozen or fainted. Do you know that feeling of having your crush ask for a kiss from you? It is excruciatingly pleasant, and you feel your stomach churning, involuntarily, and a cold feeling spreads on your back. It should be like that, but Naruto didn't feel the same. He was calm. "I do, but I can't."

Sakura was silent for a while, her head down. Then she looked up with a forced smile on her face. "You do, but you can't. What do you mean by that?"

"Do you want me to be frank?"

"Yes."

Naruto increased the tension by not answering, immediately. Then he finally said, "It's already two, but I haven't eaten lunch, yet. Man, I'm hungry."

Sakura punched him in the head, pissed. She stood up and stomped away from him. "See if I ask the same question again…this bastard! Really!"

Naruto touched the knot that had grown out from the spot she had hit. He smiled as he watched her go out the room. Just like that, they made peace with each other.

…

Hashirama was staying at the main mansion. When he woke up that morning, all he heard was the collective shouts of the soldiers, who were doing their routine exercises at the training grounds. This day he was to meet with Hibarashi.

He walked along the long hallway leading to the tea house. Servants who he passed by bowed at his presence. A bamboo thonked against stone by the pond. Birds chirped as they happily flew from roof to roof.

The aura from inside the room seeped through the doors. Hashirama braced himself. The aura pulsated rhythmically with the beat of his heart. "Hibarashi-dono," he said.

Two maids with frightening eyes slid the door open. Hibarashi, the small old man sitting at the head, and a young, tough-looking man sitting beside him, bowed slightly at Hashirama. Hashirama bowed back.

He could feel the nauseating atmosphere inside the room. Hibarashi was at it again. The old man liked to tease his guests with his killing intent. Hashirama could see the discomfort of the young man. Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead. To neutralize Hibarashi's killing intent, Hashirama radiated his own. Hibarashi noticed this and smiled.

"That's more like it," Hibarashi said.

"You're pressing the child too much, Hibarashi-dono."

"Kids these days are too weak. He should know that being with powerful people is not a walk in the park. Right, Daiki-chan?"

"D-don't worry about me, My Lord. I can manage."

Hibarashi chuckled. "That's the spirit. At least, you have the guts to appear strong."

Smiling, Hashirama sat across Hibarashi. A maid poured some tea into Hashirama's cup. The clash of chakrial ferociousness did not affect her and the other maid.

"My Lords," Daiki began. "Now that both of you are here, let me start. I'm Daiki Toda. I'm one of Her Majesty's special messengers. I'm here to relay to you Her Majesty's words."

"No need to be humble," Hibarashi said. "It's an insult to us if you don't tell us everything."

"I-I'm sorry, My Lord. I'm a member of Nue's Death Squad. I'm an assassin."

Hibarashi gave Hashirama a meaningful glance. "That's more like it."

"Her Majesty is requesting you to honor a presence before her, Hibarashi-dono, and she wishes that you bring with you your best warriors."

"That is already a given. The Queen is a bitch," Hibarashi said. "If I go to her castle unarmed, I'll return a corpse."

Hashirama noticed a change in aura from Daiki. He could feel the surge of loyalty from the young assassin.

"My Lord, may I request that you refrain—"

Hibarashi's large, blind eyes took on a devilish glint as he rolled them towards Daiki. Even Hashirama felt shaken. "Tell me that after she changes her attitude towards me. What is her intention sending an assassin as a messenger? Is she expecting that you can kill me if I ever say no?"

Daiki looked at the floor. "No, My Lord."

"She is too young. Even if she is the queen, she can't behave like this towards a man who has been here long enough to shape this modern Sanmyaku."

"I apologize, My Lord."

"And be careful with that aura of yours. I'm suppressing my anger, but another surge of killing intent from you will mean your death."

"I-I understand."

Daiki knew that Hibarashi's words spoke of truth. Hashirama clearly saw the fear on the young assassin's expression.

"Finish what you were saying," Hibarashi said.

"T-the…" Daiki cleared his throat, "…Queen is planning to send another mission to open the Narrow Path."

"Is she planning to make unnecessary sacrifices again?" Hashirama could not help but ask.

"It is too obvious what the Queen is planning, Hashirama. This is not only an act of conquering some provinces in Kogiwara. The bitch is planning to conquer the kingdom." Hibarashi sighed. "That's why she's a bitch."

"The whole kingdom is already preparing for a long war," Daiki said. "King Kagitora hasn't replied, yet, even though there are only five days remaining of the Queen's deadline."

Silence. And then, Hashirama said, "So, it can't be stopped, anymore."

"The two of them are fools," Hibarashi said. "Only that Kagitora is a bigger fool. I'll address everything I have in mind to the Queen. Hashirama, Midori-chan should be coming back any time, now. Instruct Reiko-chan to wait with Tsuneo and Saki for the sarcophagus. She will need medical attention right away."

"I understand."

"I'll be leaving to meet with the Queen this afternoon. You prepare your team. When are you expecting Asahi to come back?"

"I'm not sure."

"If he's not here after three days, leave him. You should meet with Musashi, immediately. This is a race against time. The rightful king should regain his crown from the usurper as soon as possible."

"What if Midori—"

"Inside my territory, I can feel everything. She is near the exit. If not late this afternoon, she will be here tomorrow at dawn. You," Hibarashi told Daiki, "stay for lunch. We'll leave soon afterwards."

The three men exchanged pleasantries a last time and stood up.

Before they left the room, Daiki said, "My Lord, I agree with you. The Queen is sometimes a bitch."

The sound of Hibarashi's chuckle filled the hallways.

…

That night, Hashirama went to the lake where the legendary Luka was entombed. The lake provided silvery blades of ripples as it reflected the moon. The wind blew coldly against his skin. The salty smell of water seeped into his nose.

The moonlight was brighter on the white marble bridge stretching towards the empty octagon where a sarcophagus should be. Tsuneo smoked his pipe at one corner of the octagon. Under a large tree on the shore, Hashirama saw Reiko and Saki having a stiff conversation. Saki was the only one talking. And by her jovial tone and thrilled expressions, he could tell that she was talking about love. About Naruto, he was sure.

Hashirama began to walk towards the octagon. Tsuneo looked up and smiled when he felt his presence. He was about to speak when a familiar screech coming from the sky stopped him.

"Isn't it Yuudai?" Tsuneo said.

"Ah." Hashirama raised a finger for the eagle to perch on. Yuudai flew down to it. Hashirama got the small scroll on its leg and tossed Yuudai away. The eagle flapped its large wings and was soon out of sight. Hashirama read the contents of the scroll twice. And when he had absorbed everything that was written on it, a smile curved on his lips.

"Good news?" Tsuneo asked.

"Good news. Our ace has his name now in the annals of Taka. And not only that. He and Prince Sagai is now officially a couple."

"He consented on it?"

"I don't know. Anyway, how's everything?"

"I'm still waiting for her. Hibarashi-ojii-sama told me that she was near the exit."

"This is the first time we will be able to talk."

"Yeah." Tsuneo sipped some smoke and blew it out. "Did you know that the Uchiha girl left the estate when you had gone to the temple?"

"Did she mention where she had been?" Hashirama sat down.

"She said that she would go visit someone. Hashirama, can you really trust her?"

"I trust everyone in my team. Don't worry about her."

"What if she's a spy?"

Hashirama shrugged. "I've seen her grow. I've known her since she was a child. She's a good girl. That I can assure you."

"I see." A pause. "Reiko-san filled me in on the things that happened in the temple. She said Naruto defeated Shitto. It's impossible."

"He did defeat the Jester."

"You know that Naruto is not that strong, yet, to defeat him. Besides," Tsuneo put his hand over his heart, "I can still feel him in here."

Hashirama thought for a while. "I can understand what you're trying to say. Your intuition might be right. We didn't find his body anywhere."

"You're the one who would know best. Shitto's on your level."

"You sound like you want him alive no matter what."

"It's not that I'm underrating Naruto-kun, but…"

"You want to kill him yourself, don't you?"

Tsuneo blew out some smoke. "I approved of this mission to have that opportunity. I'm the one who should take revenge for the dissolution of Ishigakure. I'll kill that monster with my own hands."

Hashirama looked at Tsuneo. A long meaningful look. Then, the ground shook. Reiko and Saki whipped their heads towards the octagon.

"She's here," Tsuneo said with a proud smile.

They heard the sound of metal against concrete as something heavy was being heaved out of the ground. A few moments later, the floor parted, and a steaming, cherry-hot sarcophagus popped out from it. There was a brief moment of anticipation as they waited what would happen next. Then, the sarcophagus's lid was thrown open from the inside and a dirty girl with chaotic, short hair staggered out.

"Midori!" Tsuneo was about to grab the girl when something shot out from the sarcophagus and bit his arm. It was a white fox.

"Stop it, Luka!" Midori commanded. The fox immediately heeded her voice and jumped on her shoulder, curling its long tail around her neck. "Sorry, Dad. Could I have some water?"

"Sure—" But Midori lost consciousness. Tsuneo caught her before she fell. "Welcome back. Daddy's proud of you."

"Reiko!" Hashirama called out. "Time for work!"

Reiko and Saki ran full speed to the octagon.

_To be continued…_


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39: The Reply Scroll

Naruto inspected himself over the river. He was in his complete Kyubi Mode. His blonde hair reached the ground. The Hakke Fuin marks had extended to his hands and feet. His eyes were red like rubies, fierce like a tiger's.

"Did I turn into this when I was fighting with Shitto?"

_Yes, Anata. But you were already exhausted, so I took over. That is why you can't remember anything about the fight, except that you defeated him._

_Your transformations before involved my struggle to conquer your consciousness. I saw each as my chance to finally escape the Dokubo. But now that you are one with me, you can use this form however you like._

Naruto closed his eyes. He returned to the darkness. Yumiko sat in front of him, as regal as ever. Her gentle elegance didn't fail to amaze him. Up until now, he still got embarrassed when looking at her impeccably beautiful face.

"Anata, please don't stare too much," Yumiko said. But she obviously loved his attention.

Naruto blushed and averted his eyes. "Sorry."

"Oh. I didn't mean to be harsh. It's just that…it's just that my heart beats so much when you stare at me. It's making me uncomfortable."

"Well, I can't help it. I didn't know that someone like you could exist. I mean I haven't seen a woman as pretty as you. All my friends are cute. But you...man."

Yumiko giggled. "Thank you. Do you feel blessed having me as your wife?"

"Somewhat. Normally, a woman as beautiful as you would never give me a second glance. I feel important that you fell in love with me."

"Anata, don't humble yourself. I'm always observing. And I think your perception about yourself is wrong."

"What? Are you talking about Aika?"

Yumiko smiled with feminine pride. "Don't tell me you are not aware of the other women's feelings."

"Who?"

Yumiko raised an eyebrow. "You know who."

"Hmmm…I'm not sure. Only Aika-chan and Saki-san told me of their feelings. And, yes, Sakura-chan asked me if I wanted to kiss her. But I can't trust her, yet, about such things. She tricked me too many times in the past. I don't know when she is serious and when she is not."

"And Kaguya-sama?"

"Has she been acting strange? I think she is just naturally sweet."

Yumiko giggled. "You're hopeless, Anata."

"Hmph! I just don't want to be misdirected by my assumptions. Hey, let's change topic. Do you know something about pods? Is there a chance that you can assume a body of a pod and be physically visible?"

"Don't you want me inside of you, anymore?"

"It's not like that. I'm just thinking how we are going to have children if you remain a chakra forever."

"You want to make children with me?"

Naruto blushed. "Well, isn't it normal for a couple to have children? I mean I also want to have my own family in the future."

"Are you serious, Anata?"

"Of course, I am! Hmph! Forget it. You can just say it if you don't want to."

"I'm happy."

"Huh?"

"I will tell you a secret. I don't need a pod to be physically existent. The Sage of Six Paths preserved the original bodies of the Bijus. When he separated the Ten-Tails into smaller entities, he had our bodies prepared as their containers."

"You consented to it?"

"We were his friends. And he was the first man I fell in love with. He accepted me as who I was, so I promised to be of service to him forever."

Naruto showed slight jealousy. "I see."

Yumiko was pleased. "He looked so much like you, except that he had black eyes and black hair."

"So you fell in love with me because I resemble him."

"Are you jealous?"

"I'm not! How could I be jealous? Over a dead man? Excuse me."

Yumiko giggled. "I promised you that I would devote all my heart to you. He is already just a part of my past."

"Yeah, yeah."

Yumiko, unable to help it, leaned over and kissed him. "You're adorable, Anata. Don't worry, okay. I'm all yours, everything I am and was."

Naruto didn't answer.

With a chuckle, Yumiko went on. "As I was saying, he made us the original containers of the Jubi's nine parts, and then he sealed us with a technique called Eternal Sleep. Our bodies are buried beneath the temple where he created the Jubi."

"Then, all I need to do is find that temple and take you to your original body."

"I'm still bound with Hakke Fuin, so you first need to attain Yuujo to revive me."

"I'll attain Yuujo. I promise you that I will revive you and formally marry you."

Yumiko caressed his face. "I know you can do that, but please don't say that you'll marry while what you only want to do is fulfill your promise with me. I know that you are still in love with another girl. I will not allow you to have me physically if you don't give me your heart."

"It's not that hard to…" he gulped, "…to love you."

"Say that when you already do. I'll let you in another secret, Anata. The Nine Great Beings, as what we were called, made an oath to the Sage of Six Paths. We vowed to be forever loyal to the one who would wake us up."

"How will I do that if I only have your chakra?"

"Of course, you can't. You should have all our chakras to revive each of us. It will be difficult, but the reward is great. We, the Nine Great Beings, were warriors of unparalleled accomplishments. We conquered countries and built ourselves empires of great magnitude. Imagine us serving you without complaints. It's a dream among dreams of conquerors."

"If I have all of you, protecting peace will be much easier."

"Yes. And not only that, we were all beautiful people. If you already find me the most beautiful, wait until you meet the other five of my companions."

"Five. That means there were six women in your group."

"Yes. They were respectable women who had engraved their names in history."

"It will be dangerous if Madara finds out about this."

"This is not written. Only the tailed beasts know about this, and only Jinchuurikis who have managed to bring about the true form of their Bijus will be able to have access to this information."

"Killer Bee must of known about this already."

"Are you pertaining to the Eight Tailed Ox?"

"Yes."

"He has not attained Shihai, yet. He has merely been talking with himself all this time."

"Now that I think of it, I've only seen the Eight Tails in its basic form."

"Exactly. Didn't Hashirama-sama tell you about this? When Jinchuurikis are in Shiriai, their Bijus are just chakras, their will already sealed beneath the depths of consciousness."

"Yes, I remember that."

"So, to sum it up, you're the only living human who knows about this fact right now."

Naruto was quiet for a while. He weighed his options. "Yumiko, I will defeat Madara and collect the chakras of the Nine Great Beings. I'll revive you and your friends, so that you can complete the life you prematurely surrendered."

"I will wait for it. Right now, I'm already happy that you care about me." They smiled at each other. "Anata, I know that you're only going to do this out of duty, but will it be all right for you to marry the heir of Taka?"

"I don't know. Firstly, we're both guys. It feels gross just thinking about it. Should I tell him that I already have you as my wife?"

"It's up to you. I trust you."

From somewhere, Naruto heard a familiar voice calling for him.

"Naruto! Naruto! Where the hell are you?"

"I think the prince is calling for you, Anata."

"You're right. Let's talk later, then." Naruto opened his eyes. His hair and the Hakke Fuin marks receded to their normal appearance. He stood up bare-chested and started to walk towards the voice. "I'm here."

It was Yori, in his white military jacket and pants. His two swords swayed on his left hip with each stride. Naruto frowned. Something was amiss about his appearance. Yori's chest was somewhat rounder and bigger, like a woman's, and his hips were wider. From his point of view, Naruto was seeing a sexy, young bishojo rather than a wiry, young bishonen.

"Yori, is that you?"

Yori stopped walking and glared at him. _She _didn't talk.

Naruto approached her, inspecting her.

Yori blushed under his stare. She crossed her arms. "I was thinking that you escaped."

Naruto ignored that. He raised a finger and poked one of her breasts. It was soft, but elastic. It pushed his forefinger back. Yori stared at him, enduring the sensation the tip of his finger was giving her. Naruto repeatedly poked her breast, his brows furrowing deeper each time. Finally, he looked up at Yori's face.

"What's going on?"

Still not taking her eyes away from Naruto, Yori began to strip. The sun reflected off her white, smooth skin, pinkish with health and feminine quality. Naruto watched as she took off each garment that covered her body. He couldn't move. Yori pulled down her pants and stepped away from it. She had a pair of pink panties on. She took these off as well. Now, she stood fully naked in front of Naruto, defying her growing embarrassment. She was red in the face and had an excruciatingly cute expression. In front of Naruto, a young, _girl_ with short, blue hair, intense green eyes, smooth, white skin, and a delicate body stood.

"You are the first person who has ever seen me as a woman," Yori said. "I decided that it was time to remove the seal that confined me to the throne, because from this moment on I am yours and you are mine. You shall promise me—Naruto? Hey, what's happening to you…? Hey!"

Naruto looked up and a fountain of blood spurted out his nose. "Pudding…melons…paint brush…cherries…" he muttered as he began to faint. "Heaven…"

"Naruto!" Yori's voice echoed in the woods. She noticed the tent on his midsection and her voice went up into a scream.

…

Naruto woke up being dragged by someone. When he turned his head to the person beside him, he saw Yori—now fully dressed. She had his arm around her shoulders. Naruto was surprised at her strength.

"You stink," Yori said.

Naruto retrieved his arm and stood on his feet. "I just finished my training. It can't be helped."

Yori looked away. "I didn't say in a bad way. You smell like a man, that's all. Anyway, let's hurry. The Council of Elders will be arriving any minute. I've prepared your clothes."

"I still can't believe that you can be a woman just like that."

"I had my appearance sealed when my mother died. I knew that my father wouldn't marry anymore, so the burden of the kingship fell on me. I was afraid that the kingdom would not heed me if I was a woman. I was afraid to face such difficulties."

"This is new for me. I didn't know that you could do something like that with pods."

"With the proper techniques, you can make changes in specific aspects of a pod. However, you can only do it twice. The cells will be damaged if you make changes more than that. Come on. Let's not linger, anymore."

…

As per Yori's request, the wedding was held in private. Only the King, her sisters Tamiko and Mika, high officials of the government, some of the King's most trusted samurai, and the Council of Elders stood to witness the wedding. It was more of a political ceremony than a celebration of a union of two people.

The King took Yori, who was dressed in the same white military uniform, along the aisle to Naruto, who was dressed in a black armor with a black cape. Naruto looked authoritative in his costume.

When they were walking to the altar, Naruto said, "This thing is heavy."

Instead of reprimanding him, Yori smiled, affectionately. "You look great in it."

"Can I have my clothes back after this?"

"Of course, you can."

The Maya, the oldest of the elders, took charge. After the long speech on formalities and traditions, he finally asked the couple to promise eternal fidelity and love to each other. Yori said "I do" without hesitation. Naruto had to gulp before he replied. Afterwards, the Maya asked them to seal their union. Yori, sensing Naruto's trepidation, initiated the kiss. Naruto almost died in embarrassment.

Like nothing happened, the Maya asked that Yori left Naruto for a while. King Haruo went to the front and faced Naruto.

"Kneel down, my child," the King said.

Naruto knelt on one knee, but it was clear the he hadn't expected something like this.

The Maya brought back a gold lace, similar to what the King was wearing. King Haruo took the lace and put it around Naruto's head.

"This is the symbol that you are now of my family. As the hero who saved us from the Queen of Serpents, this is the symbol that we are forever indebted to you. You may command my army, disburse my wealth, and do as you please to my properties."

"Ojii-san, this is too much!" Naruto blurted out.

King Haruo smiled. "I knew you'd say that. I don't care. You save the kingdom; the kingdom is your reward." He put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I know that you will never abuse these privileges. Yori, you can now have your groom back."

"Yes, Father."

…

Nine o'clock that evening, the Tsubasakage returned with a fleet of twenty floating ships. The Queen had relented to Hashirama's request. It was the fleet for the evacuation of civilians in Buxing and Xeinzhi. Shikamaru had been right about his theory.

…

Naruto was informed about the Tsubasakage's arrival, and he knew that he needed to go. Before leaving, he had a talk with Yori.

"Why can't I come with you?"

"Yori, I need to deliver the Tsubasakage's reply to Hashirama-sensei as soon as possible. You will stay here to prepare the ships that you will take to Kogiwara with the evacuation fleet. Didn't your father tell you about this? No one can command them but you."

"Damn it, Naruto. I'm your wife. You should take me with you!"

"I can't delay this. We are racing against time. Anytime soon a war will erupt in Kogiwara. I need to take this message to Hashirama-sensei, so that he can make the appropriate preparations. Besides, I will never forget that I'm married with you. This is my responsibility to Taka."

"Damn it."

"I will be leaving Kaguya-san in your care. I need to reach Tanimori in less than two days. That means I have to fly non-stop." Yori went on looking down at the floor. "Before I leave, I want to admit something to you. Yori, I already have a wife."

"I know about that. Father told me that you are a Jinchuuriki and that you are in the State of Shihai. But your first marriage is not the same as ours. I'm your _legal_ wife."

"But I still made a promise with her. I can't betray her."

Yori pulled him by the collar and kissed him. "I know what kind of person you are. You are so honest that I'm confident I learned everything about you in the past three days. It was the reason I unsealed and entrusted myself to you. I've never met someone like you, Naruto. Please believe that. I don't care if you already have a wife. It's just that it's so unfair that you're leaving just after our wedding. I'm upset with the suddenness of it. I wanted to be with you a little more."

"I'm sorry."

"I know that you only take our marriage as a formality in papers, but I'm serious with this. I can endure sharing you with an internal existence if it can't be helped."

"Wouldn't it be hard on you?"

Yori smiled. "I've chosen my man. With it is everything about him." She pushed him away. "All right. I understand. I'll take care of Kaguya-hime. Let's meet later."

"Thank you." Naruto called up his surfboard and dashed out of the room.

"Take care!"

Naruto looked over his shoulder and smiled.

…

The Tsubasakage admitted Naruto in her office. Naruto was shocked when the Tsubasakage suddenly went down on her knees and put her face on the ground.

"Tsubasakage-sama, hey!" Naruto went to pull her up.

"Please, let me, Naruto-sama."

Naruto stopped. "You also know my real name."

"I'm deeply sorry for what my son has done. I assure you that he will be punished dearly for the damage he has incurred."

"It's all right. The past is the past. Please, stand up."

The Tsubasakage stood up. "I want to thank you for what you did. If you were not here, I don't know what could have happened to the kingdom."

"You're welcome. I just did what was needed to be done."

"Thank you." The Tsubasakage got a scroll from a small chest and handed it to Naruto. "The Queen has sent with me twenty ships for Lotus-sama. The details are written in here. Are you leaving immediately after this?"

"Yes. I'll have to get this scroll to Lotus-sama as soon as possible."

"All right. The ships need to be supplied with enough provisions before they can set off. Will you ask Lotus-sama to wait for a little while?"

"Yes. Yori will command the fleet when they are ready."

"I see."

"Tsubasakage-sama, I know that you know who I am. Could I ask you a favor?"

"Anything, Naruto-sama."

"Will you promise to protect my friends from Konoha?"

"I promise."

Naruto bowed. "Thank you."

Naruto departed soon afterwards.

…

It was the second day since she came back from her hellish adventure beneath the earth. Luka, her white fox, chased a rabbit into the woods. Saki had fixed her hair yesterday. Now, her neck was bare for the wind's caress, and she still wasn't used to it. Midori had never thought that she would need to cut her hair this short. But she had no regrets. She was many times stronger now than her former self.

She looked up at the sky. The sun shone brightly. Clouds languorously cruised by in their puffy bodies, forming white, cotton candies in the air. She was alone in the clearing beside her lance. Large trees surrounded her. Yawning, she decided to lie down on the grass. The blades prickled her back, but it felt pleasant against her skin.

Suddenly, she sensed a strong presence, speeding in her direction. She bolted up, looking around. An enemy? How could it be? She was deep in the woods inside Hibarashi's estate. No one could have entered the highly guarded territory, right? She anticipated the intruder's arrival.

There was an explosion to her right, amidst the trees, but the intruder didn't give a sign of stopping. The presence continued on approaching.

Midori lowered her stance, but was too late to react to the speed of the incoming object. It was _very_ fast.

And it was a person. A man with blonde hair. Midori's eyes widened. She knew this man!

"Naruto!"

Midori shielded herself with her lance. Naruto grabbed the shaft of the lance and tried to stop his charge. But the momentum was too large. It pushed him and Midori towards a rise, debris of dirt tailing them.

Midori wasn't aware of the incoming danger. She couldn't help looking at Naruto. _When did he become so manly?_

Naruto thrust his feet into the ground. He grimaced in pain amidst the chunks of earth his heels dug up. The rise was closing in. They would hit it any minute.

"No!" Naruto yelled.

Midori realized what was happening. She looked behind her and saw the rise. She thrust her feet into the ground. Gradually, their movement slowed down. She let out a sigh when she felt the cold surface of rock against her back. Naruto's face was close enough to kiss her. He had his eyes shut tightly. She couldn't help smiling.

"We've stopped, silly," she said.

Naruto opened his eyes. He caught sight of the beautiful face in front of him. "Midori-san!"

"Yours truly. Hi."

"H-hi." He pushed himself away. "I'm sorry about that. I fell asleep while I was up in the air."

"I can see that. You look worn out."

"I've been flying non-stop. I have to bring this scroll to Hashirama-sensei as soon as possible."

"I'll take it to him. Please take some rest."

Naruto handed the scroll to her. "You look different."

"It's my hair. What do you think?"

"I think…" Naruto trailed off. His eyes closed and, unconsciously, he fell asleep. He fell sprawling on the grass.

Midori smiled and hunkered beside Naruto. She swiped some strands of hair that had strayed to his eyes.

"He will melt if you stare at him like that."

Midori jumped upon hearing the voice. She whirled around. "Hashirama-oji-san!"

Hashirama chuckled. "Did you miss him?"

Midori sighed through her nose. "Of course."

"You really did change, huh? I can't imagine how that crypt made you so frank."

Midori only shrugged.

"Reiko, this kid overdid it again. Do your thing."

The blonde medical-nin knelt beside Naruto, pinched his nose, and put her mouth in his.

"Oh." Hashirama said, amused. "This is the first time I've seen this. A new technique, perhaps?"

"A new technique?" Midori said. "Hey, Reiko-san, he's still breathing! You don't need to do mouth to mouth resuscitation on him!"

"No, it's okay," Hashirama said. "The tongue contains the most chakra capillaries in our body—"

"The tongue?" Midori threw Reiko a look. Reiko had wrapped her arm around Naruto's neck and was moaning. Midori saw saliva glistening at the corner of Naruto's mouth. A vein throbbed on Midori's temple. She pulled Reiko away. "You are clearly not doing anything but enjoying yourself."

Reiko licked her upper lip. It was creepy with her emotionless face. "I was giving him some of my chakra. He had depleted his chakra to a dangerous level."

"Then don't moan!"

"I can't help it. The tongue is a very sensitive organ and chakra stimulates electrical signals to the brain. It tickles. Try it."

"Huh?"

"I can do it, too, but it would look disgusting," Hashirama said.

Midori looked at Hashirama and Reiko. Then she shifted her gaze at Naruto. "Okay."

Hashirama was genuinely surprised. "Are you serious? Hey, this isn't like you. What did Luka teach you in there?"

"To live my life to the fullest," Midori said as she went beside Naruto. The white fox approached them and sniffed Naruto in curiosity. It barked in approval. "See, even Luka approves."

"You are about to enjoy yourself," Reiko said. "Do I have the right to pull you off him, too?"

"Hey, what's the matter? I like this guy. What is so wrong about expressing it? I could die any day. I might not have another chance like this."

Hashirama and Reiko exchanged a look.

Midori went to business. She knelt beside Naruto and did what Reiko had done. Then she lowered her face. She closed her eyes in anticipation of the contact.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked. He was staring at her.

Midori suppressed a gasp in her throat. She smiled. "I'm about to kiss you."

"K-k-k-kiss me?" Naruto tried to get up.

Midori pushed him back. "Lie down and stay quiet. I missed you so much."

When their lips were about to touch, Naruto said, "Stop it." Midori did. "I don't like this."

Midori stood up, angrily. "All right. I'm sorry." She walked away. "Luka, let's go." The white fox bounded towards her.

When Midori was gone, Naruto asked, "What's happened to her?"

"Beats me. She has been acting like that since she returned. Can you walk? I want to talk to you in my office." Hashirama lifted the scroll. "By the way, Chiasa is waiting for you."

Naruto cringed. "Can we postpone the match?"

"We will have the match once we are with the Alliance. There are more important things that we need to prioritize."

Naruto shared a look with Hashirama. "I understand."

_To be continued…_


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40: The Parting

Naruto glanced around the people inside the room. Across him sat Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, Inuzuka Katsuo, Uchiha Chiasa, Tenten, and the burly man who was Shibari Hibarashi's head of security, Mason. To his right sat his mom Kushina, Hitatsu Reiko, Suigin Setsuko, and Matsuda Saki, who had been giving him a look that—to most men—meant "I want to have sex with you," but he interpreted as, "I'm glad to see you again." To his left sat Aika and Midori, and on his lap, Hiromi. At the head of the assembly sat Senju Hashirama and Shibari Tsuneo, and between them the host Shibari Hibarashi.

He cleared his throat. _All_ the men had a smirk on their faces, even the Mason guy.

"Onii-chan, ahhhh…" Aika said, lifting a quail egg with her chopsticks.

"Na-ru-to," Kushina said. With her chopsticks, she held a chunk of meat to his mouth.

"It's my turn!" Hiromi said. She held up a chicken leg in his face.

"I can eat by myself. You don't need to feed me."

"Don't embarrass us in front of these people," Kushina hissed.

"Onii-chan…"

"Onii-chama…"

"Fine! Geez…" Naruto, blushing, gobbled the quail egg from Aika's chopsticks, the chunk of meat from Kushina's, and then took a bite off the chicken leg Hiromi held.

"Well?" The three girls asked.

"You're acting as if you cooked these. Of course, they taste good."

Aika and Kushina sighed.

"We cooked these," Aika said.

"Hiromi roasted the chicken!" Hiromi said.

Naruto was impressed. "I see. Wow. I didn't know that you could cook well."

"Thank you, onii-chama."

"Will you leave him alone?" Tenten said. "It's embarrassing."

"Naruto-san, you should tell them how you really feel," Reiko said. Hashirama raised an eyebrow. Chiasa frowned at her. "I guess having three different tastes in your mouth at the same time was not that enjoyable."

"Right," Midori said. "And your squirms are irritating."

"Jealous?" Saki asked.

Midori stood up. She bowed at Hibarashi. "Excuse me, Ojii-sama." She turned and walked away.

"Hey, I'm still talking to you!"

"Later, Mom."

"Geez. I don't remember her being that rude. I'm sorry Hibarashi-dono."

Tsuneo leaned sideward and whispered, "Isn't this great? Our Midori is beginning to realize that she's a girl with a boy's mind, not a boy in a girl's body."

…

Hibarashi put his cup down with a click. "Anyway." His voice alerted everyone. "Let's get to the point. According to the scroll that the Tsubasakage sent us, the Queen had allotted twenty ships to aid the evacuation in Buxing and Xeinzhi. Taka also promised to send in a fleet of thirty battleships for the operation. I will meet with that fleet in Buxing and take command."

"Wouldn't it be better if you went and assisted the invasion of Horan or Canto, instead?" Tsuneo said. "Aren't they the first targets of the Queen?"

"Consider them conquered. Don't you know why the Queen is so concerned about Buxing and Xeinzhi? Because fifty percent of Kogiwara's forces are concentrated in these two areas. In Horan or in Canto, there will be battle, but it will not be as intense as in Buxing and Xeinzhi. Most civilian deaths will happen in these two provinces. I'm going there to make sure the deaths of the innocent are minimal." He sipped some tea. "The Queen also assured me that she would not conquer Kogiwara. The Twelve Directors of Nue, my colleagues, will never consent to such an atrocious act. She understood our sentiment. She told us that she would still push through with the opening of the Narrow Path, nevertheless. This we agreed with. The Twelve Directors will have to send representatives, and I've already chosen mine." He peered at each of the faces in front of him. "I'm sending Uchiha Chiasa-san."

"What?" Chiasa said.

"And Uzumaki Naruto-san."

"I'm coming with my son," Kushina said.

"Yes. I also want Inuzuka Katsuo-san and Hyuuga Aika-san to accompany the two principal representatives of my estate. Your sensing capabilities are much needed for this mission."

"What about us, sir?" Tenten said. "We are here to assure Naruto's safety."

"I want the three of you to assist me."

"The reason I requested for you three, Lee-san, Neji-san, and Tenten-san, from Tsunade is because you are highly skilled in physical combat," Hashirama said. "We have weapons that only the three of you might be able to use."

"We have no direct obligation to you," Neji said. "Our mission is clear. Protect Uzumaki Naruto."

"Oh, he can protect himself," Hibarashi said with a wave of his hand. "The problem here is how we can win this war as soon as possible so that Naruto-san can return to his home village before a lucky arrow hits his heart."

"Neji, it's okay," Naruto said. "We should listen to them. Would you do this for me?"

"Yes, of course. I'm sorry."

"As for Hashirama, he and Tsuneo's family will have to meet with the Alliance. Reiko-san, Setsuko-san, and my most trusted samurai, Mason, will accompany you. As it is, I'm sure that the borders of Kogiwara have already buffed up their security. Be very careful. Have you done your preparations, Hashirama?"

"I've already informed my village, Hibarashi-dono. My ninjas will meet us in Gotoka. I know that Musashi-dono has heard of the upcoming war and is already waiting for us. It won't be that hard to make contact with them."

"All right. Mason?"

"Yes, Sire."

"Tell the other commanders to prepare. We will depart the day after tomorrow." He stood up. "As for now…Ryoko-san."

An elegant geisha in a pink kimono entered and bowed in the doorway. "Sire."

"Make preparations for a banquet. This is the perfect time to raise the morale of our warriors."

"Consider it done, sire."

When everyone began to stand up, Naruto cleared his throat. "Actually, I want to make an announcement."

Hibarashi sat down. Seeing this, the others sat down as well.

"I forgot to mention. I and Princess Yori of Taka got married," Naruto said. "I want you to treat her well."

Aika, Setsuko, and Tenten stared at him wide-eyed. Reiko's fingers twitched a little. Saki bolted up, her fists clenched at her sides.

"What?" Kushina said. "You married without my consent?" Her eyes welled up. "I can't believe this! First, that fucking fox, and then this! How could you disregard my feelings, Naruto?"

"It's a political marriage," Hashirama said. "I was not expecting the wedding since I was only asking for Jin, but it seems that Jin was currently unavailable and the only reliable samurai King Haruo could send me was his daughter. As the heir to the throne, Princess Yori could not go out of the kingdom until a man took the authority of the throne off her. It couldn't be helped. This was for our victory."

"You _used_ my son for your own gain? Why are you just staring? Answer me!"

Naruto reached for his mother's hand. "Mom, I love you, okay. You will meet her soon, don't worry. She's a decent person."

"Did you fall in love with her?"

"No. We both knew that the wedding was only a formality." He heard a great deal of sighs from the girls. "I love you, Mom. Don't forget that you're still the most important girl for me."

Kushina blushed. "A-all right. I'll let this pass. But I'll never let you alone again. This will be the last time that you travelled without me."

"Now that everything is settled…" Hibarashi said, "…time for you to prepare. Ryoko-san, take care of them."

…

Naruto swayed in drunkenness amidst the clusters of soldiers in the courtyard. Large bonfires had been lit up and burned brightly at the center of groups who were celebrating their departure for the upcoming war. Naruto had excused himself to avoid another cup of sake from Kushina. She, together with Hashirama and the shinobis from Konoha, had started early. Tenten had chained Lee on a tree because he had begun going berserk with his Drunken Fist Style, challenging Neji for a quick match. Neji was still composed despite the volume of alcohol he had ingested. He had excused himself and went to wash off his intoxication at a pole in the porch. Hashirama and Kushina talked with each other as if they had not drunk a single drop. The others, except for Saki and Tsuneo, had gone to sleep in their rooms.

Naruto reached the woods. The noise of banter and shouts began to fade. The light of the bonfires waned as the shadows of the trees and the distance blocked its range. Naruto passed a large cherry tree and found himself, after ten more steps, amidst a garden of cherry trees. The pink blossoms of the trees reflected the moon, making them silver under the dark sky.

"Man, I'm drunk," Naruto drawled as he neared one of the trees. He chuckled and produced a bottle of sake from his cloak. "I guess one more bottle wouldn't hurt." As he neared the tree, he noticed a silhouette sitting beside it. He stopped and peered at the person.

"What are you doing here?" It was a woman's voice.

"You, what are you doing here?"

"I'm asking the question."

Naruto chuckled. "You are drunk, too."

"I'm not."

"May I join you?" Without waiting for the woman's reply, Naruto went and sat beside her. Their shoulders bumped into each other.

"Move!"

Naruto turned his head to the woman. His nose hit her cheek. It was Chiasa, her pale face paler under the moonlight. "What a coincidence. I was looking for you." He sniffed. "You reek of alcohol."

"Speak for yourself."

"Why are you alone here?"

"I don't like crowds." Chiasa tried to straighten, but the action made her nestle nearer to Naruto. She ignored the contact. She was thinking of something else.

"Something troubling you?" Naruto asked.

Chiasa glanced at him. "What is it to you if I am troubled?"

"Oh, right. We are not friends, yet. Anyway, I can lend an ear to you if you want to talk."

"What makes you think that I will accept that offer?"

"It seems that you badly want to talk to someone."

"_Seems._ Not everything you see is what it really is."

Naruto raised the sake bottle to his mouth. "Nice wine, don't you think?"

"Delicious."

A beat. "Do you still have my amulet?"

Chiasa smiled. "Are you retrieving it, already?"

"I remember now why it is important to me. My Grandma Tsunade gave it to me. It is special."

"Then I'll return it." Chiasa began to take the lace off her neck.

Naruto held her hand. "I'm not asking it back. Don't you want it?"

With her other hand, she pulled the amulet out of her collar. "This is the first gift I've ever received from someone. Of course, I want it."

"Then keep it."

Chiasa laughed. "Are you saying that I'm that important to you?"

"Why not? Besides, I feel that you deserve to have it."

"As compensation for a kiss. Isn't that unfair to your grandmother?"

Naruto took another swallow from his sake bottle. "I will take you to Konoha."

Chiasa jumped. She glanced at Naruto. Naruto was drinking from his bottle again. She realized that he was still holding her hand. "What are you trying to tell me?"

"You will be my third wife," he said with a confident smile.

"Are you crazy?" She didn't do anything to take her hand back.

"What? I thought I needed to marry you since I stole your sacred kiss."

"It was an accident. And we still have to settle it on my terms. By a duel."

"You don't want my proposal?"

Chiasa was considering him, carefully. "It's so sudden, you idiot. How will I suppose to answer that?"

"By yes or no."

"It's not that easy."

"Well, I think it is." Naruto emptied his bottle of sake and threw it away. "I just need to do it again." He pulled Chiasa into a kiss. Because of confusion and drunkenness, she couldn't stop him.

Chiasa broke free. "Stop! You had too much to drink. I can't believe that you can say these things without the alcohol."

"So what if I'm drunk?" He kissed her again. This time, longer.

Chiasa was panting when they broke the kiss. "Stop it, Naruto! Your behavior is extremely unacceptable."

Naruto ignored her and plunged in for another kiss. He rolled over Chiasa, reached out, and pinned her down. Chiasa couldn't resist anymore. Naruto was the one to break the kiss.

"I don't know why I feel this way, but, Chiasa-san, I _want_ to make you mine tonight. I was looking for you. Hibarashi-sama told me where you probably were."

"You're drunk, you asshole! Let go of me!" She began to struggle out of her grip, but dizziness kicked in. She closed her eyes, momentarily, and when she opened them again, Naruto seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"I want you." He whispered. "I'm confused myself, but I want you."

Chiasa stared into his eyes. Then she found herself resigning to what fate was dictating. Naruto leaned forward and she accepted the kiss. She didn't resist anymore. She let his tongue in when it pushed against her lips. Her hands found their way to his nape. Moans escaped her mouth—Naruto was surprisingly a good kisser. Naruto began loosening her belt and in no time succeeded with it. Her robe opened at the center. Naruto parted it and awkwardly began his way down her neck, to her breasts. She couldn't watch him. She wanted to, but she felt that she would melt in embarrassment if she dared. Naruto went on. He was not planning to leave a place untouched. He was conquering her. And—despite its mortifying implications on herself—she was enjoying it; her hands held on to his head. Finally, Naruto reached her womanhood. Chiasa's eyes rolled into her skull and her whimper was loud.

…

Chiasa leaned her head against Naruto's chest. She was now fully dressed. Both she and Naruto watched as the petals swirled with the wind.

"I can't believe it happened," Chiasa said. "I really can't believe it."

"Me, too."

"I didn't expect you to be a pervert."

"Sorry. Actually, this is my late sensei's influence on me…I think."

Chiasa laughed. "You think?"

"Do you still have some sake?"

"I still have a few bottles." Chiasa reached out to the alcove made by two exposed roots and got one bottle of sake. She gave it to Naruto, who immediately drank from it. She watched him as he took a long swallow. "Really, Naruto, you should stop drinking."

Naruto hiccupped. "I'm not drunk!"

"Fine. All right." She observed a petal glide down to the ground. "I still can't believe it happened."

"Neither do I."

"So, what happens now?"

"I know you have something that you're hiding from us, Chiasa. I'll help you with everything, so feel free to tell me about it."

"Did you do that to have my trust?"

"What I can say about what I did is I did it because I wanted to do it. I don't know what happened to me. I talked with Hibarashi-sama and we had a drink, maybe two bottles of sake, and then he suddenly suggested something in my ear. It sounded like you were waiting for me somewhere in the estate and I should find you. Then I just went 'Oh, yeah,' and my mind started to wander. It felt weird. It was as if he reminded me that I liked you and that I should make the first move. My Mom made me drink a little more when he saw me walking out Hibarashi-sama's room. In the middle of conversation, I kept thinking about you, and the sake reinforced my resolve to meet with you today. Hibarashi-sama was the one who told me that you might be here."

"Hashirama-sensei told me that you became the Second Savior of Sanmyaku."

"What's that?"

"The First Savior was the First Emperor of Sanmyaku. You stopped the Queen of Serpents in Taka, so you are now the Second Savior of Sanmyaku."

"I see. I guess I am. What about it?"

"I wouldn't have been able to stop that snake, so in that sense you already defeated me."

"Come on. I don't want to win by assumption. We have to fight to see that."

"Based on what happened today, I might let you win." Chiasa went silent for a couple of minutes. "Naruto?"

"Yes?"

"Will you ever forgive me if I admit that I'm a spy?"

Naruto frowned. "What?"

"I…" She couldn't stop it. She had needed someone to confide this burden for a long time. This man behind her could be the one she had been looking for. "I want you to promise me."

"Chiasa…"

"I did it for a reason. I haven't liked what I've been doing even for a single instance, but I have no choice." The tears over brimmed her eyes. "Naruto, promise me that you'll save my sister if something happens to me. Her name is Uchiha Akiko. Kalua of the Left Wing has her."

She knew she looked silly. When she had joined Hashirama, she had promised to herself not to trust anyone. She had only respected the strong, and by strong she meant only two people: Hashirama and her sister's kidnapper, Kalua. But now she would add a name on the list: Uzumaki Naruto.

"Naruto…" she pleaded.

"I promise."

She wrapped Naruto's arms around her. "I'm a spy, Naruto."

"That's enough," a gruff voice said from the shadows.

Both Chiasa and Naruto jerked their heads towards the voice. Chiasa's eyes widened.

Hibarashi ambled forward with his cane. He snapped his fingers and Naruto fell asleep.

"Naruto!" Chiasa shook Naruto but she couldn't wake him up. She stood up, glaring at Hibarashi with her five-point Sharingan. The petals swirling around abruptly stopped and fell like stones to the ground. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing. I just think that we don't need him to know what we're about to discuss."

"We have nothing to discuss." Chiasa raised her hands. "You'll die here."

Roots grew out of the ground and wrapped Chiasa's arms. Then some more grew to wrap her body. The roots raised her from the ground. She struggled but she couldn't free herself.

Hashirama walked forward with a cold expression on his face. "Don't be conceited. Hibarashi-dono is not a match for you." He glared at Chiasa. "I'm disappointed in you, Chiasa."

"Sensei…" She closed her eyes in despair. "Sensei, save my sister. Kill Kalua."

…

In front of Shibari Hibarashi's subjects Chiasa knelt in white robes. A short katana was on her side. A samurai stood behind her, sword at a ready. It was Hibarashi's verdict that Chiasa be executed. She had begged the feudal lord to at least let her commit _jigai_, the women's version of ritual suicide. Hibarashi looked down at her with a mixture of fury and sadness. Hashirama was looking at her with an emotionless expression. Other than them, no one of Chiasa's acquaintances went to watch her death.

Chiasa didn't blame Naruto for what he had made her do. She couldn't blame anyone but herself. She had been weak. It might have been because of the sake she had drunk last night, but she attributed her careless admittance to Naruto's capability of drawing out her trust. She smiled sadly. Last night was the happiest night of her life. It was ironic that today would be the day of her death. She looked up to see Hashirama. His face reflected solid resolve and adherence to the laws of his village. She knew that he could be as cold as ice when it came to issues regarding his colleagues' security. Sympathy had no place in his heart for any wrongdoings done by anyone for whatever reasons. For him, wrong was wrong, no way about it.

"Hashirama-sensei, please forgive me." Hashirama just stared. "I beg you. Please…my sister. Save Akiko."

Chiasa almost cried when Hashirama didn't respond in anyway. He just kept on staring at her. She inhaled some air and prepared herself.

She gathered her hair on top of her head and secured it with a pin, so that it would not make a mess when the samurai cut her head. She drew in a series of calming breaths. When she opened her eyes, she was ready. She groped for the kunai beside her.

…

It was a few moments until Naruto got his focus. His head ached so much he felt like he was lying on a pillow of coals. He looked around and noticed the sad faces of the people around him. He tried to get up, but pain drilled his head. He plopped back on the pillow.

"Awww, my head," he groaned.

"Onii-chama!" Hiromi ran to his side.

"Hey, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"Chiasa-nee…Chiasa-nee…"

"Chiasa? What's wrong with her?" He pushed his body up. He peered at Kushina, who looked away. He glanced at Tenten. She, too, looked away. "What the hell is going on?"

"Save her, onii-chama…"

…

Naruto cradled his hangover as he rushed to the execution grounds on his surfboard. The trees flew past like a blur on both of his sides. He cursed the long distance separating their quarters and Hibarashi's mansion. Cold, sticky sweat now covered his entire face and made his pajamas stick to his body. But, despite his discomfort, his eyes were filled with determination.

"Yumiko. Yumiko, can you hear me?" No response. "Yumiko—ouch!" He massaged his head. "Shit!"

...

Chiasa raised the short katana in front of her and slowly unsheathed it from its scabbard. The sunlight bounced off the blade, blinding her.

…

"Yumiko, please…"

_I hate you_. He almost missed her voice. It was smaller than a whisper. _You betrayed me._

"What are you saying? This is not the time for you to sulk!"

_Never speak to me again._

"Stop with the drama! Chiasa is about to be executed."

_Good for her. That whore deserves to die._

"I can't believe you."

He curved around trees, somersaulted over branches, slid down a fallen trunk. Now he could see the execution grounds.

…

Chiasa brought the tip of the short katana to her throat. She felt the sting when the point of the blade touched her skin. The samurai raised his sword.

The cold stares pierced through her like arrows. These were killing her, already. She swallowed to wash the dryness in her mouth.

…

"I won't be on time. Shit!" He thought fast. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A clone flew behind him. His mind raced to select the technique with the highest impact. "The strongest, strongest…" The headache slowed his brain, and he could only think of a few techniques that he could use. "Argh! I don't know anymore! You, do it!" The clone held his left wrist and formed a Rasengan in his left hand. The ball of chakra swirled, menacingly. Naruto braced himself for the pain. Finally, the clone thrust the Rasengan into his back.

Blood rushed up his throat and sprayed out his mouth. He blocked the pain. His vision briefly blacked out. But then, his speed was multiplied by ten. The impact of the Rasengan hauled him close to the speed of sound.

…

Chiasa gripped the katana's handle. "Aki…" She shut her eyes as she put her hand on the tip of the hilt and pulled it to her throat. The tip drew blood. She heard the collective gasp of the spectators.

She could feel the pain, but it was as if the wound was only a minor one. Yes, she could feel warm blood soaking her robe, but was that all the pain stabbing her throat could inflict? No. Maybe she had already died. That was the only reason it didn't hurt that much.

She heard a thud from nearby. This prompted her to open her eyes. She felt the warmth of a body behind her and the crook of an arm around her neck. When she looked in front of her, she saw a bloody hand gripping the blade of the katana. Her eyes widened. She noticed from the corner of her eyes that the samurai was backing off from her. Then the thud occurred to her. She turned to her left and found a severed arm a yard or so from where she was. She gaped at the sight. _What is going on?_

She looked up and saw an infuriated face. The man's eyes were red, his fangs bared, and deep lines streaked his cheeks. It was Uzumaki Naruto. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"What are you doing…?"

Naruto spoke in a double voice, as if two beings were talking at the same time. "Who allowed this foolishness? Who?"

"Naruto, you are not allowed to intervene in this."

Naruto rolled his eyes to her. He pulled the blade away from her hands and threw it. "Don't speak." He returned his gaze at the people high up on the balcony. "Who?"

"I allowed it," Hashirama said. "Are you questioning my judgment?"

"You?"

"She is a traitor. She confessed her crime and, unfortunately, it is punishable _exclusively_ by death."

"That is your idea of crime and punishment?"

"Yes."

"You're an asshole, then."

"Don't treat Lotus-sama that way!" A soldier said, stepping forward with his sword drawn.

"Stop. Let him speak," Hashirama said. The soldier backed off.

"You are about to punish someone who is doing everything to save her sister."

"Enough, Naruto!" Chiasa said. But Naruto ignored her.

"Do you understand that she doesn't have a choice?"

"It's not an excuse to endanger another's life," Hashirama said.

"Don't tell me that you wouldn't do what she did if you were in her shoes."

"Never. Law ensures the safety of those who deserve it."

"That is an excuse of cowards. Chiasa needs help more than anyone, and yet you are cowering in fear that someone might get hurt if you lend a hand to her."

"You don't know what you are talking about."

"Do I? I think you know who is blind between us."

"You are being blinded by your emotions. Step aside now, Naruto, before I rule you as her accomplice."

"I can't believe that the First Hokage is this weak."

Hashirama's face darkened. "Who you are pertaining to is already dead."

"Is that so?"

"Naruto…" Chiasa pleaded. "Please leave."

Naruto kept ignoring her. "I'm disgusted with you. At this very moment, I'm severing my ties with your team. I'm taking Chiasa."

"Naruto, wait…" Chiasa wanted to stop his madness. Did he know what he was saying? Hashirama had already branded her an enemy of Morigakure. If Naruto took her, he would be Morigakure's enemy as well. She tried to speak, but nothing came out her mouth. She could only watch as Naruto and Hashirama exchanged hostile glares.

"Take back those words, now," Hashirama ordered. "Misplaced compassion will kill your true friends."

"I don't think I misplaced anything here. Chiasa is a friend of mine." Hearing this, Chiasa's eyes welled. "I'll never let her die in the hands of a man who can't even understand somebody else's plight."

"Foolish. You will soon eat your words."

"I don't care. Chiasa is a good person." At this, Naruto coughed up blood.

"Then both of you shall die." Hashirama raised his arm. The soldiers began their advance.

Chiasa couldn't take it anymore. Now she learned another trait of Naruto. He was like a bulldog. He would not let go of his prey. She knew that she couldn't persuade him any longer.

Chiasa raised her forehead protector to Hashirama, and with her thumb imbued by chakra, struck through the emblem of the tree signifying the Village of the Forest. "I am no longer of Morigakure, and from this moment on, I vow my loyalty to no one but Uzumaki Naruto." Her five-point Sharingan showed. Then the four tomoes surrounding the pupil expanded into a pinwheel shape. "Mangekyo Art Ancient Beast Summoning: Leviathan!"

The space to her right rippled like water and from its center came a large winged dragon with a hundred horns on its head. The ground shook upon its landing and its shriek shattered eardrums. The soldiers began to run from it. The dragon protectively curled around Chiasa and Naruto.

"Let us go, Hashirama-sensei, and I'll not attack," Chiasa said.

"Don't threaten me. Do you think a beast like that can defeat me in battle?"

"Heh. How about two beasts?" Naruto ripped his clothes and ran his bloody left thumb on a mark of two crisscrossing waves on his ribcage. "This is a small gift to me from the Tsubasakage. Summoning Technique: Queen of Serpents!" The giant black snake Naruto had conquered appeared beside the dragon and towered over the balcony where Hashirama and Hibarashi stood.

Hashirama was shaken upon seeing the legendary serpent. "It's the Queen…"

"Yes," Hibarashi said. "The legendary demon of Sanmyaku. I can't believe I'm looking at characters from stories. The Great Leviathan of the Ancient World and the Queen of Destruction of Sanmyaku. Hashirama, you have lost two incredible shinobis."

Hashirama smiled. "The Queen of Serpents never comes upon a call from anyone other than the person who shows her total defeat. The Leviathan, on the other hand, eats whoever summons him except for the person that he's chosen. Yes, indeed, I lost two incredible shinobis. But you know me. I never take back my words."

"There is a war coming, and unnecessary fatalities are the least that we need right now. Let the spy go, Hashirama. She has the same enemy as us, anyway."

"I know. Make the announcement. This is my first defeat. I can't accept it. That boy…he already knows his own justice." He turned around and went inside the mansion.

When Hashirama was gone, Hibarashi addressed Chiasa and Naruto. "Hashirama agreed to let Uchiha Chiasa go, but he will not take back his judgment. Naruto-kun, by siding with Uchiha Chiasa, I condemn you as an enemy of the Shibari Clan. You, and those who will come with you, shall leave my estate, immediately. I'll give you this day to pack up. If I see your faces here tomorrow, whether you have those beasts or not, I will personally end your lives. Understood?"

Chiasa bowed in front of Hibarashi. "Thank you for your generosity."

"Good luck, young child. I promise you. If I get to kill Kalua earlier than you, I deliver you your sister."

"I'm very sorry, Hibarashi-dono."

Hibarashi dismissed her with a wave of his hand. "Your new master needs medical attention. I'm sure Reiko-kun will grant you a parting kindness."

Reiko did a second attaching operation on Naruto's arm. Then, that night, Naruto's group left the estate. Tsuneo, Saki, Midori, and Setsuko were shocked upon hearing the news. Because they had been drunk the night before, they were sleeping when the incident happened. Hiromi cried as she watched the cart, which Hibarashi gave Naruto's group, rolled out of the gates. Setsuko wanted to come with Naruto, but Tsuneo stopped her.

The people who came with Naruto were his reinforcements Tenten, Neji, Lee, Aika, and Katsuo, his mother Kushina, and Chiasa. At first Chiasa was afraid that she would be blamed for what had happened to Naruto, but, to her surprise, everyone was critical of Hashirama, instead. Kushina even branded him a cold-hearted fool. Tenten told her that they knew Naruto would do that. Neji apologized about not coming to her aid earlier. It was not their business to intervene, he explained. Lee was happy about the fact that he would never have to leave Naruto's side. He deeply—although silently—opposed the idea of letting Naruto go to the Narrow Path with only Aika and Katsuo by his side. At least, now, they were free to do what they knew was right.

Chiasa hid from them the fact that she had lost her virginity to Naruto last night. She knew that Kushina was overprotective of her son, and the two girls with them had feelings for Naruto. They would not understand. Whatever had happened last night, she knew that it hadn't been Naruto. Hibarashi must have put into his drink a substance that induced instinctive stimulation. It might have caused Naruto to be trapped in a Genjutsu. Her only mistake was she had unknowingly put her trust on what she saw. She should have thought it weird that Naruto came to her. Instead, she had let it be and believed that everything that was happening was true. She wondered if he would remember what had happened between them. But before that, could she still look at him in the eye when he woke up? She shivered and she knew that her face was flushed.

…

One event that seemed insignificant had led to an unexpected result. With a single slip of the tongue, their lives had changed.

_To be continued…_


	41. Chapter 41

The story until now…

After falling into the Mouth of Hades, a pool at the bottom of Konoha's highest waterfall, Naruto woke up in Nue, a kingdom in Sanmyaku, a closed country. He met Tsuneo, a shinobi under oath to protect the two heiresses of Kogiwara, Midori and Hiromi. Starting with their clash with Zuko, Naruto was swept into a new adventure.

Naruto met Hashirama of the Senju, the Shodai Hokage, and through him, he learned how to attain Shihai, the fourth of the five stages of controlling a Biju. In the Village of Dogs, assisted by Baba, the current ruler of the village, Naruto succeeded in attaining Shihai.

A twist of fate brought back Kushina, Naruto's mother, to life. When Naruto returned to the real world, she was with him, doing her best to make up for the time she had lost. In the Temple of the Descending Dragon, Shitto made them taste the power of the Left Wing of the Swallow, an organization under Madara Uchiha, and in this brief clash, Shitto acknowledged Naruto's strength.

Hashirama then told Naruto about an incoming war and sent him to Taka, the kingdom floating on air. Here, Naruto managed to defeat a legendary symbol in Sanmyaku, the Queen of Serpents, a giant snake that almost destroyed Sanmyaku once a long time ago. Because of this, Naruto became a hero. Naruto was then married off to King Haruo's eldest daughter, Yori.

When he flew back to Tanimori, Shibari Hibarashi welcomed him, warmly. But then, Hibarashi set a trap, using him to make Chiasa admit that she was a spy. Hibarashi decided to execute Chiasa for her serious crime. On the day of her ritual suicide, Naruto saved her. He and Hashirama had an angry exchange. In the end, Hashirama decided to let them go. Naruto and Chiasa, together with Neji, Lee, Aika, Tenten, Katsuo, and his mother Kushina left the estate that same day.

…

Chapter 41: Naruto's Girls

It had already been four days since they left Hibarashi's manor. This was their fourth stop, their fourth inn. Naruto still slept, maybe dreaming again about that little encounter they had had under the cherry trees. The thought brought a blush on Chiasa's face.

She was still in shock. The man she had disliked the most had gotten the most precious part of her womanhood. The thought should have angered her, but it felt like losing her virginity to him was worth it. She had gained true companions that understood her situation, not like Hashirama who only thought about his village. It was regrettable losing the Lotus, but it couldn't be helped. Naruto had already proven himself when he defeated Shitto, anyway. Together with his strong companions, she was sure that they would have a chance against Kalua.

Not having to worry about appraising eyes, Chiasa took her time watching Naruto's sleeping face. She shifted on her stool. The first time they met, Naruto had not been this charming. He had grown into such a fine man in such a short time that it had disarmed her the moment she saw him again. She reached out and touched the tip of his nose with her forefinger. A smile curled at the corner of her lips. She could admit it; Naruto was the most handsome boy she had ever seen. And considering how perfect the Uchihas were, her eyes could never lie.

"Maybe it's not that bad, eh," she muttered. "Having you as my first kiss and my first time."

According to her clan's laws, Naruto could already claim her his property. No man had the right to take her away, anymore, unless she chose to. (If she did that, she would be banished from the Uchiha clan.) She had no problem with that. At the moment, Naruto was the only man who had passed her criteria. The problem lay in him. Naruto was married, and, to make it worse, his wife was a princess. Even though the marriage was meant to be political, it did not change the fact that, in society's terms, Naruto was legally taken.

She sighed. "You can't have everything."

She caught herself. Why was she being silly? She had stated her oath to be of service to him forever. She shouldn't be hoping anything back. Naruto had saved her life and had offered assistance in taking back her sister Akiko. That was enough compensation. Already too much, actually. Besides, she was a shinobi, a warrior. She had been betrothed to service, no more else. To be an effective warrior, she should ignore the needs of her heart.

Naruto stirred. His brows furrowed and he grunted. Chiasa's heart began to pound in her chest in a mixture of nervousness and anticipation.

"Naruto?" she said.

Naruto, as if heeding her voice, opened his eyes and bolted up. A hand shot out from the blanket. "Yumiko!" he shouted.

The name unexpectedly clenched her throat. Yumiko? Who was she? If she recalled correctly, Naruto's wife's name was Yori. A lover? She shook her head. She should harness her imagination that began to go wild. If only she knew better. Right now, she was experiencing something that is called jealousy. But she was a novice about love, a cup with only a few pebbles within. She would not be able to name what she felt.

"Hey, Naruto." Her voice came out constricted, filled with worry.

Naruto turned to her. "C-Chiasa?"

When she saw the lines of despair beneath his eyes, her heart skipped a beat. "What's happened?"

Naruto's face tightened into a grimace. He threw his arms around her. Then he started to cry. "She hates me now. Chiasa, she wouldn't talk to me."

"Who? Who's she?"

"Chiasa, I betrayed her. I promised not to hurt her, but I did."

Chiasa stiffened. If what he was talking of was this Yumiko, that meant that she had had a hand on this betrayal. A drop of guilt fell into the already chaotic waters and began to spread. She was speechless. If this was something about how to pull through after killing a human being, she might be able to offer some advice. But this? What was she supposed to do?

She decided not to say anything. She embraced him back. The warmth given by his body stirred some memories inside her head. She was not sure, but she thought she was blushing. Her face felt slack and hot. The patches of skin where his hands were began to sweat. A shiver went through her spine when he pulled her closer to him. The pressure on her breasts made her uneasy.

"You smell nice," Naruto said.

Chiasa jumped, and the contact that had seemed benign turned into something with malice. She pushed him away. "Stay away from me, you pervert!"

He put his left hand behind the back of his head and chuckled. "Just kidding. I'm sorry I burst out on you. I was having a nightmare."

Chiasa glared at him. "That last comment was unnecessary."

"I found myself embracing you." He chuckled again. "I said the first thing that came to me. Sorry."

Chiasa was relieved after sensing the disappearance of tension between them. Naruto was smiling again; that was enough. She smiled back. Naruto blinked at her, as if he was witnessing something out of this world. The gesture made her panic.

"Wow," Naruto said. "I never thought you were this pretty when you smiled."

The words struck her like thunderbolt. If it was still like it had been in the past, she would have already thrust a fist into his face. Now she could only bow down to hide her face. Was he not embarrassed even a little? He was face to face with the girl he had made love to. Could he not share the same embarrassment she was enduring?

"I hope you smile more," Naruto said.

Now suspicion clutched at her. What was this? He was talking as if nothing had happened between them. Did he forget? Slowly, she glanced up at him. He was looking around, studying the room. Without warning, she grabbed his hand.

"Naruto, look at me," she said. Naruto turned his head towards her.

"What's wrong?"

She gulped, kicking away the hesitation that suddenly tried to close her jaws. "Do you remember?"

"Huh?"

Chiasa swallowed a lump down her throat. The beating of her heart was loud in her ears. Could he have forgotten? No. She knew Naruto. He would not forget something that important. She stared hard at Naruto. The lamp hanging from the rafter in the ceiling made his face glow golden. _Come on. Why aren't you speaking?_

Naruto was not moving. His hands crumpled the blanket on his lap. She did not know where he was looking at because his hair covered his eyes.

"Naruto…" She felt she was about to cry. Her limbs had gone numb, and her nose started to run.

"Geez," he said. Chiasa blinked. "Of course, I remember. Why do you have to ask about it? It's so embarrassing."

For a second, Chiasa did not know how to react to that. Then she laughed. When he turned to her, she saw how red his face was. "I was worried, you idiot. You know how important it is to me."

"I was just trying to act as casual as I could," Naruto said.

Chiasa savored the relief that had washed down upon her. She knew it. She felt stupid now to have doubted Naruto's nature. "I see."

She found herself looking intently into his eyes. He, too, was staring into hers. Those blue orbs seemed to call upon her soul. Like that, they shared a conversation no one else could hear. When she felt that she was beginning to melt under his gaze, she looked down. She fidgeted with her thumbs.

"Ano, I want to thank you for saving me," she said in a soft voice.

Naruto grabbed and then squeezed her hand. "You know what I want in return, Chiasa."

Chiasa looked up. His eyes burned with determination. He really knew what he wanted. She sighed. What did she expect? He was a healthy man, and she had heard that men who had experienced sex for the first time always craved for it. She had pledged her service to him. Practically, she was now his property. If he wanted to make love with her, she could not refuse. He had been gentle with her, anyway, making her first time as pleasing as anything she had never experienced before. She was more than willing to give her body for his pleasure.

"Let me take a shower first," she said. She stood up. "I won't take long."

Naruto frowned. He tugged at her hand, a confused expression on his face. "Shower? I only need to hear it from you."

Chiasa let out a nervous laugh. "Hear it? Look, I don't have the experience to please you with mere words. I was a virgin, remember?"

"What does your virginity have to do with it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I only want to know if we are friends now."

She was dumbfounded. That was all?

"So?" Naruto prodded on.

"Of course," she said, still in shock. She thought the words had come out wrong from her mouth.

Naruto sighed, and then a huge grin stretched his lips. "Thank you. I was worried that you might treat me differently after what had happened between us. Now I can relax."

He was really kind. Even though presented with such an opportunity, he had chosen not to take advantage of her. Truth be told, she was afraid to be in his arms again. After their coupling, she had realized how weak she was. She was frightened of words suddenly coming out her mouth, unchecked. Without the alcohol, nothing was there to block them from Naruto's ears.

"Of course," she repeated and smiled. "You're now my friend."

…

After they saw him walking with Chiasa out his room, everyone was delighted. Only Tenten had kept her distance. As Kushina told her son about what had happened back at Hibarashi's estate, she observed Naruto in the corner of her eyes.

She could feel something. That Chiasa was not this open to him before. If she remembered correctly, Chiasa had been sour around Naruto. What brought the change in her? She decided to talk with Naruto in private.

When Naruto went out, excusing himself for a douse of fresh air, Tenten followed him. The inn was situated at the foot of a hill overlooking a wide lake in the east. The sun shone brightly up above, and only a few clouds could be seen under the belly of the sky.

Naruto put his hands on his hips and inhaled deeply. "Smells good, don't you think?"

Tenten started at the acknowledgement of her presence. Was Naruto this sharp? Back in Konoha, she remembered sneaking up behind him and not even then would he notice her presence. She felt disappointed not having the chance to enjoy his startled expression after she had grabbed his calf and barked like a dog.

"Hi," she said.

"I didn't know that I could sleep through after such an important event," Naruto said. "Forgive me for being so carefree."

"You were injured. It was expected."

Naruto turned with a curious expression on his face. "Did I just hear a monotone from you?"

Damn. Some of her anger had slipped. She inhaled to remain calm. "Yeah. I'm a little upset. Yet again, you played the hero for a spy. Now she's all clingy to you."

She heard him swallow. Instantly, her heart began to beat hard. "She's just acting friendly. I hope you do the same. She still feels that she's imposing on us."

"Isn't that exactly what she's doing?" she said under her breath, hoping that he did not hear.

"What was that?"

"Can we trust her? She's a spy, after all. Habits die hard."

"She's not a bad person. She was desperate. Wouldn't you do the same if you were in her shoes?"

She did not reply. Naruto had a point. Every human who knew how to love would have done the same. She felt foolish now that she had asked that question. Pushing the thought away from her mind, she steeled herself for the next one—the point she had wanted to clear. She cleared her throat.

Naruto," she began, "I've been meaning to ask you this. Please, answer truthfully."

"Okay."

"Those furtive glances, the hushed voice when you speak to her…how did it happen? Between you and Chiasa-san?"

Naruto chuckled, nervously. "Ah, that…"

"I'm your bestfriend. I'd hate it if you keep secrets from me."

Naruto seemed to mull this over. He kicked at the grass in front of his feet. His hands went inside the pockets of his trousers. His face assumed a thoughtful expression. Her heart still pumping hard, Tenten waited on him to speak.

"It was accidental," he finally said.

She frowned. "What was accidental?"

He looked at her. "I…I did it with her."

Tenten felt as if a bucket of water tipped and poured its contents on her. She stared gaping at Naruto. "Did it…? You mean sex?"

Naruto nodded, his face red in embarrassment. "Please, don't tell anyone."

Tenten couldn't hold her rage in. She screamed in Naruto's face. Fortunately, the wind blew to carry her voice away from the inn. She collared him. "You surrendered yourself to a stranger?"

"It was accidental. I was drunk and was under a Genjutsu suggestion. I couldn't help it."

"Damn it! You could have crawled inside my blanket, for all I care! Why did it have to be a stranger?" She was really mad at him. Tears were flowing down her cheeks. "Did you know how many hearts you have betrayed?" The faces of Sakura, Momoko, Aika, and Hinata flashed in her mind. She wanted to rip Chiasa apart together with this pervert in front of her.

"Listen to me! It was an accident." He raised his arms to plead. "I didn't mean it! It was only because she was there that time. If you were there instead of Chiasa, it would have been with you."

From behind a tree, they heard the clink of porcelain on the ground. Tenten whirled and saw Chiasa with a horrified expression on her pretty face. Chiasa's eyes were all on Naruto for a time until they rolled and fell on her.

"I…I'm sorry…I just thought of bringing some refreshments…I didn't mean to eavesdrop." Shock still on her face, Chiasa reached down for the tea cups with shaking hands.

"Chiasa, this idiot doesn't know—"

"I know!" Chiasa shouted as she straightened, cutting Tenten short. "I'm sorry." She gathered the tea cups and began to jog back to the inn.

…

_Just his point_. Chiasa couldn't understand herself. She knew that Naruto was not romantically attracted to her. But had it been all a lie? He had proposed to marry her, said it was because of the kiss. He had said he wanted _her._ Now, after hearing him describing what had happened as casual sex, she felt that her heart had been ripped apart. But hadn't it been casual sex? They did not share an intimate relationship, but still, she had allowed him inside her. Wasn't it her fault? Naruto had been under Genjutsu and was intoxicated to his limits. At Hibarashi's level, plus the excessive volume of alcohol in his system, Naruto wouldn't have been able to break free from the Genjutsu. He would not have had the ability to stop himself. Reason slowly slowed her pace until she was just walking. But she did not dare to stop.

…

Tenten pushed Naruto down on the ground. Naruto stared wide eyed at her. With killing intent, she straddled him and pulled him to her by the collar.

"Did you like it?" she asked.

"W-what?"

"Did you enjoy making love with her?" Her heart was screaming for her to stop but she ignored it. She was to blame for this mess. She could see Naruto struggling to come up with an answer. "Come on! Answer me!"

"Of course! I was—"

It was enough. Tenten let him go and went off to chase Chiasa. She caught up with her in no time for Chiasa had stopped running and was just walking up the trail, watching her feet. She grabbed Chiasa's arm. "Wait!" she said. "Don't move."

Chiasa stopped without complaint. Tenten, breathing hard from tension and exertion, leaned over her knees and tried to calm down.

"He liked it," Tenten finally said. "It was not just a fleeting thing. He still remembers." Tenten saw the slight movement in Chiasa's shoulders. She knew her words had gone through. "I was just jealous of you."

Chiasa jerked her head at her. "What? Why?"

Tenten grabbed Chiasa's arms for support. "You got to have our prince's first time."

"Prince? Naruto?"

Tenten smiled. "Do you have feelings for him?"

Chiasa blushed. She tried to look at where Naruto sat. "You mean do I like him?"

"Yes."

Chiasa shook her head. "I don't know."

Tenten looked at Chiasa, knowingly. "That's enough. I know that you misunderstood him. He's a simpleton who is prone to misunderstandings. What he meant by his words earlier is he was sorry for doing that to you. He was trying to explain to me that he was so not in control with himself that time that he would have made love with anyone." She couldn't help chuckling. "By his expression, I could tell that he thought he committed a crime against you. He's that pure."

Chiasa stared at Naruto. Tenten saw how Chiasa wanted to comfort him.

"Forgive me," Tenten went on. "It's just unfair that you beat us to it."

Chiasa turned on her with a curious expression. "Aren't you his bestfriend?"

Tenten smiled, shaking her head. She did not have the will to answer Chiasa's question however innocent it sounded. "Let's leave him like that for the mean time. He should learn that things like that shouldn't be taken for granted."

Tenten watched Naruto sitting on the root of the tree, his head in his hands. Now that she knew that Chiasa was a conscientious person, some of the anger faded into guilt. Chiasa had not seduced Naruto. She was sure of it. All she wanted to see now was assurance that Naruto would not make the same mistake. She glanced at the pretty Uchiha and almost giggled when she saw nervousness in her black eyes.

Naruto turned on them with apologetic eyes. He stood up, breathed a lungful, and started for them.

Chiasa almost choked. "He's coming. W-what should we do?"

"Wait. You'll find this amusing."

"You're scary, Tenten-san. I've got the feeling that you know him quite a deal."

"More than you can imagine."

Now Naruto stood in front of them, determination in his blue eyes. His lips were drawn into a tight line. A minute passed that he just stood there, looking into Chiasa's eyes. Chiasa unconsciously grabbed Tenten's hand.

Suddenly, Naruto knelt down on the ground and prostrated himself. "I'm sorry! It was my weakness which forced you to go through so much pain."

Chiasa's eyes widened. "N-no. It's okay—" A tug from Tenten stopped her from continuing.

"Let him," Tenten hissed. "He deserves it."

"You can do anything to me," Naruto went on. "Just please forgive me. I forgot myself that night. Even though I knew that it was wrong, I still went with my lust. And just now, because I was afraid to face the consequences of what I'd done, I decided to act as if nothing had happened and hoped that everyone would understand on their own…or forget. I'm sorry."

Tenten's eyes welled up when he finished. Sincerity had filled his voice that perfunctory doubt had not seeped through her reaction. She almost forgave him, except that his apology was for Chiasa.

Tenten stiffened with guilt when she heard Naruto sniff. _The idiot is crying!_

"I'm sorry…" Naruto repeated.

Chiasa looked at Tenten, asking silently what to do. Tenten replied by pushing her forward. Chiasa looked at Tenten over her shoulder once more. "Go on," Tenten mouthed, and gave a reassuring smile.

"I-I forgive you," Chiasa said. When Naruto did not move, she spoke louder. "It's all right. I forgive you. Stand up, Naruto."

Naruto slowly got to his feet, turning away from them. He wiped his tears with his forearm. When he turned around, his nose was red. "Tenten, I'm sorry for trying to keep this from you."

Now her anger disappeared. She approached him and brushed away the dirt on his forehead. He looked so vulnerable and guilt-ridden that her hand automatically went to ruffle his hair. "We are virgin only once, so most of us girls regard it a great deal. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

She patted his head. "Good. Now let's go back inside."

As she trod on the trail, she heard a faint apology coming out of Naruto's mouth. Tenten ignored it. What she was worried about was the fact that she had practically confessed her feelings for him. She wished that his denseness would save her from unnecessary problems.

…

Yori looked elegant in her white jacket and slacks. Her twin swords dangled on her thin waist. Under the glowing orbs inside the control room of the ship, her short, blue hair gleamed. However, there was a deep frown in her brow. She also breathed between her teeth, which made a hissing sound every time she inhaled and exhaled. Small clicks echoed inside the huge expanse of the control room as she continued on tapping her boots. She looked up and glared at the people in front of her. There was a creepy man in shades, a snobbish blonde girl, a lazy-looking man, a furious chocolate-skinned girl, and a pink-haired girl who, right now, was glaring back at her. Only Kaguya, with her puppy cute expression of anxiety, kept her rage in check.

"Do you know that I can order your execution right here and now?" Yori said. "And why are you coming with me? The Tsubasakage is trying to protect you. Don't you know that I'm heading to war?"

The girl with the short, pink hair said, "So what? We're prepared for it. You don't know how experienced we are when it comes to fighting. How about you? Isn't this your first time going out of your castle? I've heard that you're a pampered princess. Can you handle the terror of seeing infinite death around you?"

Yori blushed. "Don't mock me! Are you challenging me to a fight?"

"Hey, stop being children, you two," the lazy-looking man said. "Sakura, as the leader of our team, I want you to apologize to Princess Yori."

Sakura turned on the lazy-looking man with eyes that could kill. "Shut up, Shikamaru. This bitch is claiming marriage with Naruto."

"Hmph!" Yori said, turning her chin away in disdain. "I am Naruto's wife. And I'm already carrying his seed inside me." This was a lie she thought she should make.

"What?" the chocolate-skinned woman said. "It's not—"

"It's true!" Yori said.

"You…"

"Stop it. Momoko, Sakura, if you don't stop, I, myself, will order the crew to kick us out of here," Shikamaru said. "I apologize for the rude behavior of my subordinates, Princess."

"You better be." Yori turned her back on them.

"We're ready to take off, Princess," the Captain said.

Yori nodded at him. "All right." She looked over her shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want to get off while there is time?"

"You don't have to ask!" Momoko said.

"Tch. All right, Captain. Let's take off."

The Captain acknowledged the order and barked commands at his crew. The floor trembled as the floating ship disengaged from the dock. From the windows, white floating ships could be seen cruising on air beside them.

Yori mused. _When I told them that I and Naruto were married, they started antagonizing me. Only that blonde girl who calls herself Ino doesn't care. But these two…damn it! The pink haired monkey introduced herself as Naruto's childhood friend. The other one introduced herself as Naruto's rival. But they're giving me the feeling that they are more than a childhood friend and a rival. Who are these two? Damn it, Naruto! I'll wring everything out from you._

_Damn. And to worsen it all, they're both pretty!_

…

Sakura paced her room. There was a terrible grimace on her face, enough to scare a true youkai. The hands on her hips trembled as she walked with fast, deliberate strides back and forth. Shikamaru, Shino, and Ino watched her with anxious eyes. They were seated on the cold, metal floor. Momoko was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, intently studying the blankets on Sakura's bed. One glance and Sakura knew that she, too, was seething inside.

"A-ano…" Kaguya said in a small voice. Sakura almost forgot that the Sumiragi princess was in the room.

"What?" Sakura said.

"I think it would be better if you refrained from going against Yori-hime. After all, she is the commander of this fleet. Sanmyaku is treacherous, and it would be difficult for you if you got kicked out from this ship. You want to meet Naruto-sama, right?"

Sakura stopped pacing and frowned at Kaguya. "Naruto-sama?"

A pretty blush crept up to Kaguya's cheeks. It sent electricity of anger through Sakura's senses. "I owe him my life."

"You, too?" Sakura said. "Don't tell me…"

"No! This is only a silly admiration on my part…"

"It's the same," Shikamaru said, sighing. "But Kaguya-hime is right, Sakura. Besides, as what the Tsubasakage was saying, it was a political marriage, only necessary so that the Lotus guy would have his swordsman. I heard that the best swordsman of Taka is in Ine right now. Only Yori-hime has the skill that could satisfy Lotus's requirement. The problem was she was bound to the throne and it would take a man to sever that power from keeping her home."

Sakura said, "Then why Naruto? Of all people, why him?"

"Availability and time. I think Lotus did not expect that Taka's best swordsman would be unavailable, and the king had to patch up this hole, so he had no choice but to send his daughter. Naruto is the only person with direct contact to Lotus, he is an eligible bachelor, war is over the brim of the kettle…you know the rest."

"Don't forget prestige," Momoko spat. "These fame-seeking mongrels want to have a _hero_ in their family. Maybe they were awestruck at how Naruto conquered that snake and forget about restraint."

"No, Momoko-san," Kaguya said. "They are honorable people."

Momoko cocked an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

A glint of conviction reflected off Kaguya's eyes. "Yes. The Sagai Clan is an affiliate of our family. Their reputation of generosity and justice is known throughout the lands."

"Oh?"

"You're just jealous of Yori-hime. You _don't_ know these people. You have not the right to judge them."

"I'll criticize them as much as I want. I'm sure that Naruto wouldn't have accepted it if he had a choice. Naruto is a fool, too kind for his own good. I can imagine how he must have looked like while the king pleaded at his feet."

At this, Kaguya stood up and walked right in front of Momoko. "Don't insult King Haruo. He will only say 'please' out of politeness. He never pleads for the benefit of it. Take back what you said, now."

"Sorry, but I don't eat my vomit." There was a long stare-off between Kaguya and Momoko, until Shikamaru cleared his throat.

"I'll tell Naruto about this behavior of yours, Momoko," he said.

Momoko panicked. "What? Hey! Are you siding with this bitch?"

"I'm neutral. Well, I hate biased information. Naruto would want to know everything."

Momoko turned to Kaguya and grabbed the shorter girl's shoulders. "I take back my words. I apologize. I was stupid. And…I'm sorry for calling you a bitch."

Sakura could see that it was hard for the proud Inuzuka to say those words. After speaking, Momoko turned on her heels and was out of the door before anyone could blink. Kaguya fingered the string of her bow, obviously embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," Kaguya muttered. "I didn't mean it. Excuse me."

"Wait!" Sakura called out. "Kaguya-chan!" But Kaguya was already out of the room.

Ino sighed. "You are stirring things, unnecessarily, Sakura."

Sakura frowned. "Do you think this is my fault?"

Ino looked at her, meaningfully. "Did something happen? Why do I feel that you're desperate? I can understand why Momoko would act like that, but you? It's like you're currently that bitchy alter ego of yours."

Sakura gasped, recalling the time when Naruto had ignored her confession at the Sagai Castle. He had just walked off without saying anything, without showing what expression he had on his face. She wanted to cry. Suddenly feeling weak, she slumped on the floor. "What should I do? Naruto is slipping away from me."

Shino, with his expressionless face, stood up. "Be his tower of support." He turned and went for the door.

Sakura blinked at Shino's retreating form. _Be his tower of support. Why didn't I think of that? I've been only thinking of myself recently. That might be the reason why Naruto got irritated with me._

"This is the first time Shino has offered advice that doesn't concern fighting," Shikamaru observed. "Anyway, you can hear the undercurrent in his words. We are at war, Sakura. We need all the friends we can find. However ugly, unreasonable, obnoxious, or frightening they might be, as long as they can boost our chance of survival, they are welcome. We are in a different country and your attitude is putting our life in danger. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say."

Sakura understood and resigned to the situation. "Yes."

Shikamaru watched Sakura from the corner of his eyes. "Sakura, once we meet Naruto, everything will be clear to you." He stopped at that, but to Sakura, he seemed to have withheld something. She could see in his eyes that he knew something more than he was letting on. Finally, he sighed and stood up. "At our current speed, we will reach Tanimori in more or less three days. Let's get some sleep." He went out of the room.

"I guess I'll sleep with you," Ino said. She leaned back on her arms and looked up. "Naruto's girls. In the past, no one wanted to look in his direction. Now girls are crowding over him. One at a time, they are being sucked by his mysterious charm. And some of them are very important. There is Hinata, the heir to one of Konoha's most influential clans, the Hyuuga. There is Aika, a prodigy in Jyuuken, a gift from the gods of martial arts; Momoko, an exotic flower that is renowned all over the Fire Country for her unparalleled beauty and a genius that has the body every taijutsuist covets. Now, you have the Sumiragi Clan's heiress Kaguya-hime and Taka's crown princess Yori." She looked at Sakura to gauge her reaction. "We still don't know how many more are there that we have no idea about. Quite a competition, huh?"

"Don't forget Temari of the Sand and the Yukikage of the Snow Country. That Mizukage, too, showed deep sadness at Naruto's funeral."

"Temari? That arrogant sister of Gaara? How come?"

Sakura sighed, and then glanced up. "Are you trying to depress me?"

"What do you think?"

"Ino…"

Ino giggled. "I'm just making fun of you. Look, Sakura, that idiot, however charming a man he is now, remains as what he has been. He is someone who has accomplished impossible things, yes, but those things—the fame, the recognition, the respect—they are nothing to him. He is already happy to bask under the smiles of those whom he loves. Among our peers, you know him best. You should see these things. To me, he remains the snotty kid who hid his insecurities by being cocky, his sadness by being cheerful, and his fear by showing faith." She put a hand on Sakura's hand. "Sakura, Naruto is still the same boy who loved you, and I think, a thousand years from now, he will stay the same."

"Should I listen to my heart, then?"

"Always, but with a bit of pragmatism. Right now, Naruto is on a journey to stop Madara from destroying this world and save Sasuke. Like before, when you still believed in him with all your heart, you should help him reach his goal. Naruto sees things no ordinary man can see, but there are things that could still blind him. You, as his most trusted friend, should be there to give him light when it's too dark or to give him darkness when it's too bright."

Sakura smiled in admiration. "Nicely said."

"I just borrowed some of my father's lines," Ino chuckled. "Sakura, Naruto still loves you. That's what I believe."

"I'd have killed you if you said otherwise," Sakura said.

…

"You can come out now," Kushina said as she flapped the white blanket to rid it of moisture. She had just finished the laundry and was now hanging them to dry under the sun. It was a hot day, even though fringes of cold fog still hovered on the surface of the ground, tickling her ankles. When the person she was talking to stayed hidden behind the bushes, she turned in her direction and smiled. "I know you've been following us. Come out and have some hot soup." The person stubbornly refused to come out. Kushina, getting a little impatient, marched up towards the bushes and said, "Setsuko-chan, if you don't come out, I'll drag you out of there."

Setsuko shot out from the bushes, eyes on the ground, a pretty blush on her tanned face. Her stomach grumbled.

"Ara, ara," Kushina said. "Look at you. You look like a mess."

Setsuko indeed looked like a mess. Her shoulder length, sun-bleached hair was tangled with sticks and blades of grass. Her face was streaked with mud, so were her clothes. Only the monk beads around her neck appeared new. Kushina wrinkled her nose, but in good humor. That motherly smile was on her lips.

"You stink, child," Kushina added. "And here I was thinking that you were the best girl for my boy."

Setsuko blinked, her brown eyes taking on an attentive sheen. Kushina suppressed her laughter. _This girl, like my son, is very gullible._ Once the thought had passed, Kushina regretted being mischievous. _And I do take after my son when it comes to impishness._ Now she chuckled out loud. "Come. Let me clean you up. I want to see your pretty face before we eat lunch."

…

Setsuko let Kushina lead her into the inn. The landlady, eternally friendly, was surprised, but only at first. She beamed at Setsuko with all the kindness she could muster. After that, Kushina pulled Setsuko towards the bathroom. They entered. Kushina began closing the door to the room. Setsuko panicked at this.

"Kushina-san, I can wash myself!" she said.

Kushina gave her a patronizing smile. "With that filth on your skin, I doubt that you can do a passable job."

"No! It's all right!"

But Kushina ignored her. The older woman went to the bathtub and dipped her hand in the water. "This is warm enough. All right. Take off your clothes."

Setsuko was about to explode in embarrassment. She covered her chest with her arms and shook her head, vigorously. "I can do this myself, Kushina-san."

A sly smile curved at Kushina's lips. "So you don't want _me._ How about…" Kushina changed her appearance into Naruto's, "…me?"

Setsuko screamed. "No! No, no, no, no! Change back! Change back, please! I'll let you wash me!" She averted her eyes from the boy's handsome face. "Please, Kushina-san."

"All right, all right. I'm sorry." Kushina changed back into her appearance. "I'm just teasing you."

Setsuko could not refuse anymore when Kushina began stripping her of her clothes. Kushina tossed her dirty clothes into a basin filled with hot water and soap. Kushina then took off her own clothes.

Kushina sat her down on a footstool and started washing her hair. "I thought you'd never come. What changed your mind?"

She did not want to tell Kushina her true reason. She was sure Kushina would not like it. "If I stayed with Hashirama-ojii-chan, I wouldn't be able to see my father again. Naruto is my father's master."

"You mean Kinjo-san?"

Setsuko nodded. "Yes."

"Is it okay for you to leave Midori and her family?"

"I tried to persuade them to come with me, but Tsuneo-otosan told me that they had no choice. To tell you the truth, I feel bad that I had to leave them."

"If you are worried for their safety, don't be. They are with Hashirama-sama."

"Yes. I know." Should she tell Kushina her main reason for following? She heard Hashirama's voice in her head.

"I want you to protect Naruto at all cost," Hashirama had told her. "If you think that Chiasa is doing something suspicious, kill her. Setsuko, you're the only person that can do this. I know that his friends will protect him, but I need assurance. You're it."

The hot water that splashed down her body jerked her off from her reverie.

"Now, let's scrub your skin," Kushina said.

As Kushina began scrubbing her back, Setsuko thought, _when the time comes, will I be able to kill Chiasa?_ She looked at the foam on the tile and sighed. _Chiasa, I pray that Hashirama-ojii-chan was just being paranoid._

…

The captain of the ship yawned at the quietness of the surrounding. They had been at the border for almost two weeks now, bored, dreary, and tired. Nothing was happening. His superiors had told them to keep watch because there in Xeinzhi, the first wave of attack from the Kogiwara army would happen. Horan and Canto would remain peaceful, until Kagitora failed to send a reply to the Queen's request.

A young officer brought coffee to the captain.

"Thank you," the captain said. "Anything happening at—" His eyes bulged as he saw a fast object went through the hull of the battleship next to his. The battleship spurted with fire and then jackknifed at the center before plummeting to the ground. He heard the sirens going off, red lights switching on and blinking inside the control room.

"We are under attack!" a soldier said.

The captain thrust the mug into the young officer's hands and went to the call pipe to shout orders. "Look down the ground! The attacks are coming from the ground. Fifth platoon, send in your amplifiers down! Now!" As he was straightening up, another of the battleships was hit. _This is impossible. If Kogiwara is trying to destroy my battalion, it should be looking like raining metals from the ground. But one…two? I cannot carelessly bombard the ground. Civilians are still out there. I don't see any fleet in front of us._ Realization dawn on him. _Could it be…_

…

The huge man was laughing with glee. He knew that extreme speed could penetrate the hardest of metals. He was only using boulders, throwing them up at the large objects that floated in the sky.

He bellowed deep roars of laughter. "Glory to my name! Aruga of the Left Wing has lit the candle of war! My name will be sung for generations. The mighty Aruga, the ship destroyer!" Again he laughed. He grabbed at the side of a boulder, his fingers sinking deep, and hauled it at the black hull he fancied. "Sink! Sink! Sink, you filthy imperialists! Justice will be served!"

He laughed and laughed as his boulder hit home and destroyed yet another ship.

_To be continued…_

Author's note:

At last. Sorry for the long wait. I was forced to put my stories on hiatus for a while because I needed time for school work. I got to finish my graduation requirements: thesis, projects, etc...Also I had to review for exams. Fortunately, I passed and got my degree in Civil Engineering last month. I'll try my best to update often until the review for board exams starts this coming May.

Smile.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42: God of Lightning

The feel of her thick tails provided her the only source of warmth inside the womb of darkness. The pain was still there, biting. She knew that she was bleeding. She knew and was afraid because the pain would not leave. It brought back memories to her. Sad and painful ones. She had never thought that someone could make her feel like this again.

A tear fell from her eye as a sob escaped from her throat. She was angry and sad, disappointed and dispirited. She did not want to see Uzumaki Naruto again.

…

Naruto was smiling when he entered the inn with Tenten and Chiasa. A great pressure had been lifted from his shoulder. It was good to know that Tenten understood. Wait. Tenten. She had been saying something about crawling under blankets. His late Jiraiya-sensei had used that expression a million times, but until now he did not know what it was for. He looked to her right and watched Tenten's pretty face. This girl was not bad at all. She had been beside him for a long time, and she cared for him so much. Also she was cute. He wondered now why he had not developed any special feelings for her. Sakura. It had always been her. He sighed. Tenten smiled.

"I know what's on your mind," Tenten said. "Are you regretting that your first time wasn't with me?"

"Huh?"

Chiasa grabbed his arm and squeezed. "Are you regretting that it was with me?"

He tried to make light of it. He knew some dirty jokes too. "Tenten. I regret only the fact that I did not come into your room that night and took advantage of my drunkenness. And Chiasa. What I regret about is I was drunk and already half-numb when I did it with you." Beautiful patches of pink came up on the girls' cheeks and their strides went faster. They left Naruto behind in only a few moments. Naruto was waiting for one of them to smack him. When it did not come, he stared in wonder.

The door of the bathroom opened. Chiasa bumped into a brown haired girl, who was coming out with Kushina. Naruto saw a sudden apprehension on the girl's eyes while Chiasa looked at her with surprise—and was that caution? Apprehension. Something was wrong.

"Oh, hello there, Chiasa," Kushina cheerfully said. "I don't think I still need to introduce you to each other, right?"

Chiasa tried to flash a smile, but it came stiff. Funny to see someone smiling with brows furrowed. "H-hi, S-Setsuko-san."

Kushina said, "What is this atmosphere about? Come on. Do you need to be too formal?"

Setsuko tensed up, and instantly, she could no longer look at Chiasa.

"Hi, Setsuko," Chiasa said.

"Hi," Setsuko said.

Chiasa bowed to both Kushina and Setsuko and went on her way to her room. Tenten threw a confused look in her direction. Then she approached Setsuko.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"She thinks that she's better off with us," Kushina said. "I'm sorry I had to borrow your clothes."

Naruto finally realized what Setsuko was wearing. It's a green, satin wrap dress that showed every curve on her body. The slit reached up almost to her hip, showing off her shapely, tanned legs.

"Hey, where are you looking at?" Setsuko asked, blushing.

Naruto panicked and turned around. "Nowhere!"

"Liar!"

He heard stomps approaching him from behind. The stomps stopped. Now he could feel warm breaths on his back. He stiffened. Setsuko was only an inch away.

"Sorry," Naruto said. He felt her forehead against his back.

"I should be the one apologizing. I hesitated. I should've chosen you outright."

Naruto began to turn his head.

"Don't look! Just hear me out."

A few seconds of silence. Naruto heard his mother and Tenten leave.

"Naruto…I want to be one of your protectors," Setsuko said. "I…I don't want anything bad happening to you. Can I be your protector?"

"I don't need protectors."

"What?"

"But I'd be happy if you could be my friend."

Both of her hands crept to wrap around his waist, but she stopped and settled for the small patches of fabric over his abdomen.

"Should I confess what I used to do to you inside the Holy Cave?" She was talking about the daily ration of kisses she had been giving him everyday she went to the cave to bring pills. Naruto did not know about this.

"What are you talking about?"

"Naruto, Hashirama-ojii-san sent me here to protect you from Chiasa."

"What—!" Naruto started to whirl, but Setsuko's grip was tight.

"Don't look! I won't be able to tell you everything if you look. Naruto, I don't know what to do. I don't want you to hate me. Please help me."

Naruto could feel her desperation. She was cornered. Slowly, he placed his hands over the ones grabbing at his clothes. He gave her hands what he thought a reassuring squeeze.

"Everything will be all right," he said. He decided to put on some airs, half rooting from facts, half from confidence. "You're talking to Uzumaki Naruto. If you are with me, no person has the power to stop you from believing what you think is right. I will never let you do something you don't want to."

Her hands let go, but they did not leave. Each found an arm to grab, enfolding his body in an embrace. She buried her face between his shoulders.

"Are you really human, Naruto? The kindness that you have only exists in stories about gods." A beat. "Thank you. Thank you for making me feel that my decision had been right."

Naruto's joints were all rigid, tendons taut, muscles stiff. Setsuko was unaware of this.

"Can't you at least react?"

"D-d-d-d-don't press too much." A sigh escaped his mouth. "Soft."

"Huh?" Setsuko realized what was happening. Her fist flew towards his head. "Baka!"

"Tetetetete…" Naruto muttered as he massaged the knot on his head.

Setsuko grinned, happy, at Naruto's crouching posture. "Baka," she said under her breath. "That's why…that's why I…" She ended what she was saying with a contented sigh.

…

The Captain of the squad stared through the lenses of his amplifier's head. He had a golden one, something so bright that the sun could not help complementing. His soldiers had black. The armors of metal twice the size of their bodies now surrounded the lone man who exuded confidence in front of their number and size. The man was muscular and was wearing rags made of black leather. The man's face bore a history of ceaseless fighting, and his eyes gave an impression of glee while he killed—dull, black orbs. Nothing in them but numbness to emotion.

"Oh, oh, oh…what is this? Aruga was expecting that you would just peacefully retreat," the huge man said. "You are brave pigs."

"Captain, give the order. I'm gonna gut this dog now!"

The Captain, experienced in many battles, stayed calm and analytical. His soldiers were being blinded by the man's impertinence. Had they forgotten how their ships were destroyed by him? Whatever he had used to do that, it was not something to underestimate. This man was powerful.

"Captain!"

"Are you affiliated with Kogiwara?" the captain asked.

"What would you do if I was not? Let me go?" Aruga answered.

The captain closed his eyes. He had no more options left. "Men, listen up. We will use the Wasp Assault on him. Whatever happens, never stop attacking." His soldiers cheered. He took a few moments to watch the enemy in front of him. He doubted that it would be as easy as before, and as much as possible he did not want to engage in a battle his instinct was telling him he could not win. But he had no choice. He raised his sword and bellowed, "For Nue's eternal glory!"

A collective war cry rang out from deep inside the amplifiers. And then the attack commenced.

A smile stretched one corner of Aruga's lips. "Come then, filthy pigs! Come and meet your death!"

…

The black amplifiers were coming, excited to kill him. Was it wasp assault? Wasp. That meant that he would be facing simultaneous attacks from all directions. His smile broadened into a sneer. He would enjoy that.

The first amplifier to reach him came from his right. The amplifier slashed at him. He sidestepped with the grace of a bullfighter. With perfect timing, he grabbed at the amplifier's torso, crushing the metal of it. He lifted the large object and threw it away like it was a small straw doll. The amplifier hit a rock and would not move anymore.

There was a tiny sign of hesitation in the remaining amplifiers' strides but they did not falter. Aruga grabbed hold of the ankle of an amplifier and used it as a club to beat two amplifiers to his left. Metal versus metal created a hideous resonance, like cracking bones. But, yes, there were bones cracking inside the thick samurai armors.

Aruga leaped forward and pushed an amplifier away. This amplifier hit another and the impact of its elbow mashed the stomach of the one behind it. Aruga now crouched down, dug his hands into the ground, and yelled. When he stiffened his arms, deep cracks surrounded ten amplifiers. The heads of the amplifiers went turning here and there, a sign of fright and confusion. Aruga lifted the piece of earth he had singled out with his ability and hurled it up towards a ship, amplifiers and all. His aim was true. The large mass of earth hit the nose of a ship, destroying it with the amplifiers.

After disabling seven more, the attack suddenly stopped. The golden armor was signaling for retreat.

"As if I'd let you," Aruga said. He walked, jogged, and now sprinted towards the remaining enemies. He became a flash. The amplifiers flew up like bullets towards the ships. Each of them went through the hulk of metals flying just below the clouds; allies ate allies. Nice sound.

Aruga watched what remained of the mighty fleet: battleships reduced into sheets of metals with jagged edges; amplifiers with leaks of blood; humans with skulls bashed, arms flayed, legs maimed, and viscera forced out of the body. Falling from the sky is not pretty if you hit the ground. Aruga had destroyed thirty six ships, manned by more or less four thousand men. No one survived.

Aruga spat before he turned and left. "Serves you right."

…

"I will kill the evil shadow which has engulfed this world," Sasuke muttered to the little girl in front of him—the last survivor of the one-hundred-ninth laboratory. "For my atonement." Lightning struck and darkened the other half of Sasuke's face.

"I-I want to live, mister. Please, don't kill me," the little girl said, scuttling away from him.

"I cannot do that. You are already tainted with Orochimaru's curse. Years from now, you will hate yourself."

"No! I promise you! I just want to live."

Sasuke closed his eyes. "I'm sorry."

The girl stared up at him, pleading, using her innocent-looking face to pinch Sasuke's heart. Sasuke looked down at her with his black eyes. The girl averted her eyes. Then she grinned.

"I see that you are darker than the curse you were talking about," she said. "If pleading won't work, then I'll just kill you!" Her transformation was fast. The tomoe mark on her chest spread like black flames throughout her skin. Then she swelled up into a tree-like creature. Her skin was dark and stiff. The cute face she had had a moment ago turned into the hideous face of a monster. A baleful peal of laughter came out her mouth. She raised her oversized limb to attack Sasuke.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said.

The monster's large eyes widened as the monster went skidding towards the wall. It crashed into the solid concrete with a force equivalent to a catapulted rock. "What did you do? What did you do?" It tried to move, but then something in its chest stopped it. Sasuke's sword Kusanagi was sticking out from there, at the very center of Orochimaru's curse mark.

"You will not be able to move anymore," Sasuke said.

"What?" The monster threw up purple blood. "How…"

"Even the fastest among you could not see it."

Realization dawned on the monster's eyes. "I see. So the rumors are true. It's not only this laboratory, right? No. It's not correct. This is your last stop and I'm the only survivor left." The monster glanced at its tree-like arm. "I can't even turn into my pretty self anymore." A beat. "Raijin, the Lightning God. It's an honor to be killed by you. Could I ask you a favor? Could you tell Orochimaru-sama that I loved him?" Sasuke just stared. "Please."

Sasuke approached the monster and in its face he said, "I'll tell that after he's dead."

"Please…"

"What's your name?"

"Lily."

"Do you remember your family?"

"I don't. Please, Lightning God. Before I die, I want to hear your answer."

Sasuke put his hand on the hilt of Kusanagi. "Die in peace." He pulled the sword out of the monster's chest.

"Thank you…"

Sasuke watched as the monster slowly changed into its original form, that of the little girl. He could have burned her like those other victims of his, but today he could not. He sheathed his sword and picked the small girl from the ground. He slightly trembled when he felt how light the girl's body was. "You might have been the sunlight for many people if you had not fallen into darkness." _Orochimaru…Madara…I'll let you toy with me for now. But when the time comes…_

He went out and the large dragon roared in greeting behind him. It was his lightning dragon, long, gigantic, and ferocious, another technique in his powerful arsenal. Now he got three techniques that could challenge even the gods: his Amaterasu, his Susanoo, and now his Hirairyuu. The dragon roared once more as it hovered around the remains of the one-hundred-ninth laboratory.

…

From a hillock in the distance, Orochimaru, Madara, and the First Son stared at the walking figure of Sasuke.

"I'm a little troubled about Sasuke's defiance of my order," Orochimaru said. "I told him to bring with him the strongest, but he killed every one of them."

"What is he doing? What will he do to that body?" First Son asked.

Madara glanced at the two villains from the corner of his eyes. "A trophy."

Orochimaru rolled his eyes towards Madara, and said, meaningfully, "Yeah. A trophy…"

Silence.

"He is the best student I've ever had," First Son said. "It's time for his final lesson."

"Good," Orochimaru said. "I'm planning to attack Konoha two months from now."

"He will not come with you," Madara said, turning around. "After his final lesson, I'm sending him to Sanmyaku."

"Sanmyaku?"

"A war has just started in that country. That is the best place for him to get experience."

Orochimaru licked his lips with his snake tongue. "I see your point, but I won't attack Konoha without him. Not that I can't succeed, but that I want Konoha to witness how her two most exceptional shinobis will destroy her. I want her to realize her failure. I want her to taste total defeat."

Madara nodded, but he observed Orochimaru behind the hole of his mask. "Then you'll have to wait."

Orochimaru hissed. "Don't you think it's too early for him to face warriors of our level?"

"I assure you, serpent, that he can easily kill you now," First Son said.

Orochimaru laughed at the comment, but he left it hanging. "Madara, I don't want you keeping anything from me."

"Think what you want." Madara sucked himself into the lone hole of his mask and disappeared.

The First Son slowly turned into pecks of darkness and faded into nothing.

Orochimaru waited a little more. "Sasuke...the God of Lightning…" He laughed. "The fool thinks that he can keep anything from me. But that is nothing of my concern. As long as you are the first to inflict a wound on Konoha, I do not care. Fuujin and Raijin. Yin and Yang. Light and Darkness. Good and Evil. Naruto and Sasuke. Who between the two of you is stronger now?" At that, Orochimaru changed into millions of tiny white snakes, faded, and disappeared.

…

Sasuke put the last stone on the girl's grave. He bowed a last time and left.

_To be continued…_


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Two Revelations

They had gone early that morning from the inn and now the day was approaching noon. Lee had insisted to remain outside to monitor the surrounding, adding that it was a form of training for him. Aika slept on Katsuo's lap while Neji watched the passing greenery at the back. The others sat and engaged each other in idle talk inside the carriage. Things were peaceful and normal as what the other days of travel had been. But then, a few moments later, the driver stopped the horses.

"What's wrong?" Kushina asked. "Something ahead?"

The driver was hesitating. He did not like what he was about to do.

"What's going on?" cute Aika said, yawning. She stretched her arms and looked over her shoulder at the driver. "Why aren't we moving?"

"My masters, I'm not allowed to go beyond this point," the driver said. "My instruction was to take you only up to the border of Tanimori and Hashaboro."

"What?" It was Kushina again. "Why can't you? Please, mister, just a little more." She looked around the place. "This is obviously a forest!"

"I'm sorry. I've served the Shibari clan for decades and not once have I cheated on them, seen or not. This is all that I can do for you. I'm very sorry."

"No! I can't—"

"We thank you for your generosity, sir," Neji interrupted. He nodded at Kushina when she frowned at him in confusion. "Please do tell Hibarashi-dono that we are grateful of his kindness and hospitality."

The driver hanged his head. "I wanted to be of more service to all of you…I'm sorry."

Naruto crawled across the carriage's floor towards the driver, reached out, and patted the driver's shoulder. "It's okay. Thank you very much!" He looked behind him, at the bunch of blankets in a corner of the carriage. "Hey, mister, could we have those blankets?"

The driver whirled to him in astonishment. "No, Naruto-sama, those are yours!"

Naruto grinned. "That'd be a big help."

"I also have more for you…courtesy of Hibarashi-dono." The driver stepped inside the carriage and at the center pried a hidden trap door open. He took from the secret compartment a scroll and a bag of gold coins. "I kept it here for safety measure."

Neji came closer, assuming the role of the leader. "What are those?"

"This is a map of Nue, a detailed one made by Hibarashi-dono himself," the driver said, unrolling the scroll to reveal a detailed drawing of the kingdom of Nue. "The border is here. The next province is called Hashaboro, a mountainous area. You can cross it in one day. Ajit is next. In Ajit, you will find the information you need to reach the Narrow Path."

"Hibarashi-dono had already laid out everything for us, huh," Neji said.

"Yes. Whatever he did," he apologetically glanced at Chiasa, "…especially to you, Chiasa-sama, please don't hate him. He was just thinking of greater priorities."

"No," Chiasa said with an embarrassed smile. "He was kind until the very end. I committed one of the worst crimes in war."

"I knew he was a nice guy!" Naruto exclaimed.

"This is an awful lot of money," Tenten commented. "It might be dangerous to carry around an alien place."

The driver shot Naruto a thoughtful look. "It's for your bribe, Naruto-sama. The people will find you weird, that's all, but the guards will arrest you immediately once they see your hair."

"Ummm, so the reason why Hashirama-sensei was so intense about changing my hair to black is because he doesn't have money," Naruto said.

"It is one reason, yes, and money connotes power. Inevitably, more than names or crests, money is the indisputable sign of power and influence. It's the only proof the soldiers of Nue will accept. Actually, two-thirds of this, the amount that you'll be giving the commander of the guards at Ajit, is enough to buy two battleships."

"I see."

"Once you've given the bribe, the soldiers will treat you specially. Take advantage of that and find out what you can about what you want to know. Everything. They will tell you everything." A beat. "Here, take it." He gave the two items to Neji. "I'll pray for your safety."

Neji said, "Thank you, and be careful on your way back."

The driver smiled. "I'm glad I was able to be of service, even only for a little."

…

It had been one week now since they left Hibarashi's manor. Now they were walking up a steep hill, a hill as rocky as a crocodile's back. The only source of relief was the blue sky, which, for now, had nothing but a little strapping of clouds. Hashirama was at the head of the group. Reiko, her golden mane freely dancing with the wind, walked directly behind him. Tsuneo was carrying Hiromi on his back. Saki and Midori set up the rear. Hashirama had chosen to travel through the forests of Nue. As much as possible, he did not want to be seen by anyone so he often made detours to escape eyes. They ate roots and fruits, and Hiromi's pretty cheeks had sunken a little because of not enough carbohydrates. Midori was still not used to the change in diet and had shed off some pounds. Not that she cared, considering what she had been through inside Luka's tomb. Hell, she had lived off from dew drops in there.

She looked ahead and, upon catching Reiko's flowing hair, missed a step. She unconsciously reached for her hair and sighed. It had been her most precious part. She had cared for it as a mother would care for her baby. Now it was gone. Inside that dark, reeking hole, she had been so depressed after Luka's spirit managed to cut it. As if it could hear her thoughts, the white fox nudged her leg. She glanced at the little animal affectionately. "Sorry," she said. Now her eyes fell upon her father's back. It was still broad, but not as broad as before. Maybe it was because of the fact that she had become so much stronger now or maybe because her perceptions had changed. When Luka had taken her inside her subconscious, she had seen for the first time what she cared about deeply. Then it had occurred to her that the world she was living in was temporary, and life could be too short for all the things that she wanted and would want to do. She was now determined to live her life to its fullest.

"Love at first sight," Saki muttered, and this brought her back from her reminiscing.

"What?"

"I said love at first sight." Saki smiled at her.

"What are you saying, Mom?"

Saki reddened, averting her eyes. "Something I've read at the library in Hibarashi-dono's estate. The author was saying how powerful love at first sight is. How time, the master of consistency, is powerless against it. How pleasure, the ultimate of worldly wants, is a speck of dust in front of it. How the mind, the center of being, has no power to make it fade."

Midori smiled. "You're gonna be a poet now, Mom?"

Saki did not lift her eyes from the toes of her sandals. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Hearing his name, Midori stiffened. "Naruto? What about him?"

Saki turned to her, eyes compellingly critical. "You were jealous of the girls around him."

"What? I'm not! Stop assuming things, Mom."

"And while you are trying to deny it…I think that is not a blush of anger, right?"

"Mou! You're crazy, Mom!" She stomped off away from Saki.

Saki let out a gale of giggles.

"Is your mother teasing you again?" Tsuneo said.

Midori shot him a warning look. "Keep it, Dad, whatever you have in mind."

Tsuneo kept his silence for a while, and then said, "You have changed a lot, daughter." He looked into Midori's eyes. "Hashirama was saying that you admitted your feelings for that blond boy. Is that true?"

"Hashirama-oji-san!" Midori called out.

Hashirama smiled at her over his shoulder. Innocently, he said, "What is it, sweetheart?"

"That was just a spur of the moment!"

"Acting tsun-tsun this time?"

"It's tsundere. Hey, don't change the subject! As I was saying—"

"Yeah, yeah. So, you were only practicing your newly acquired philosophy in life that time. Or is it that you are now on the other side of your self?"

Bull's eye. She could not believe that she had slipped. Accepting defeat, she bowed her head. "I just thought that I could be better like this." Luka, her white fox, bounded to her feet and whined.

Hashirama said, "I'm sure, whatever Luka had shown you in her tomb, it was not meant to change your attitude towards _people_, unless you thought that you did not get along well with others, which you are not_._ Teachers—good teachers—like myself," he chuckled at that small arrogance, "try to change their students' attitude towards _things_. It's the student's ego that we want her to see, inspect, and clean up. It's her weakness that we want her to repair. For instance, we want them to see that pride is a good thing when made as basis for noble endeavors, overconfidence when used to bring up latent potential, darkness when used to protect someone, etcetera, etcetera. You said something like you wanted to live your life to the fullest, right?"

"Yeah."

"And you thought that by being self-centered you could do it."

Midori's head jerked up. "Self-centered? I was merely trying to be honest with my feelings!"

"Do you remember how Naruto-kun had reacted when you were trying to kiss him?"

Saki marched up beside Midori. She pinched her upper arm. "You tried that?"

Midori ignored the sting. "Tell me how I am self-centered."

"Consider these questions. Why do you want suddenly to live your life to the fullest? Are you _hoping_ to die early? What of the people around you? Are you planning to live your life to the fullest for them? No. People who say that they want to live their life to the fullest usually want to live it only for themselves. Usually they say, 'Oh, God, why am I stuck with this effing sedentary life? I'm missing so much. I'm not going to be happy this way.' And then she goes and makes her family and friends worried by saying, 'Hi, did you know that I want to eff that old geezer next door?' Do you understand where I'm getting at?"

"I'm not like that. I didn't even think that way." She puffed her cheeks.

"Really?" Hashirama took on a woman's pitch. "I should tell Naruto-kun that I love him before somebody else does or I suddenly die. Does this sound familiar?"

"I'm—" Bull's eye. This one going through the first arrow and splitting it. She could only dip her head. She did not want to show that façade of hers that was sprayed with a red, glaring "guilty" in big letters.

"The best thing you can do is don't lose sight of hope. You are old enough to know if it's the right time, place, situation, and mood. What will you lose from patience? Midori, I want you to be you and stay that way. Saints stay as themselves throughout their lives, even though once they attain enlightenment they forget how they used to perceive the world."

"I'm not a saint! I'm a warrior!"

Hashirama sighed. "I'm only trying to tell you to stop lying to yourself. Accept things as they really are. You were good enough being you, when you were not forcing anything."

"Tell that to yourself! If you really believe that, then why did you banish Chiasa-san from our team? She was just trying to protect her sister! Accept things as they really are my ass!"

There was a moment of silence. Then Hashirama said, "I was trying to help Chiasa."

Not only Midori. Everyone stopped upon hearing this.

"What did you say?" Midori said.

"Chiasa doesn't have a sister."

Everyone's eyes grew big at this revelation.

"Naruto-kun…what will happen to him then?" Saki asked.

"I told Setsuko everything. If Naruto-kun failed to save Chiasa, Setsuko would be there..." Hashirama reached the peak of the hill and looked down. "After we cross that lake, we will arrive at Gotoka. Midori, be prepared for more important revelations."

…

She had not wanted for this day to come. But, inevitably, it came. She hoped that nothing would go wrong.

Tsunade entered the hall with Kakashi as her escort. Her most elite shinobis and the head of the clans with their grim faces greeted her arrival with a courteous bow. At the center of the large hall Morino Ibiki and Umino Iruka guarded a man. When lips stopped talking and an air of reverence permeated the surrounding, the man looked up with a sneer on his mouth. Tsunade looked back at him with tangible disdain.

"This could be ugly," Kakashi muttered.

Tsunade nodded at him. "Yes. It could be." She stepped forward. "Who is this man?"

"A spy working under Orochimaru," Ibiki said.

"Princess Tsunade, I've been waiting for you," the man said.

Iruka said, "You are not permitted—"

Tsunade gulped. "Let him speak, Iruka."

"I know that I have nowhere else to go," the man said. "If I let myself be imprisoned here, Orochimaru-sama will give me a slow and painful death. With that in mind, I'll tell you some chosen facts that I know. Orochimaru-sama is planning to attack Konoha in two months. Uchiha Sasuke is still alive and is now under the tutelage of the First Son."

The people inside the hall gasped.

"Don't kid around! The First Son?" Iruka said.

"Did you forget that Orochimaru-sama can resurrect the dead? It's up to you to believe me, anyway, but I don't have a reason to lie anymore. And the last fact that I will share to you, for the benefit of those who still don't know," he glanced at Tsunade, meaningfully, "Uzumaki Naruto is still alive." The man smiled and then crushed something between his molars.

"Cyanide!" Ibiki said, but he was too late. The man fell forward.

The audience was not interested in the dead. They had their gazes locked on Tsunade.

"Master Tsunade…" Iruka muttered through trembling lips. "Is this true?"

Tsunade massaged the ridge of her nose with her fingers. Her eyes were tightly shut. "Shit."

_To be continued…_


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44: The Trade

The news struck confusion in everyone, except to those select few who had known about it. Tsunade stood up. Her audience waited in silence.

"I'm sorry," Tsunade said. "I had to do what I did. To protect him."

"But why lie even to us?" Iruka said. "You know that we love Naruto as much as you do."

"It was unwise of me to keep this from you. I was desperate about his safety."

"Where is he?"

Tsunade remained silent.

"Master Tsunade…"

Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder. "Master Tsunade, I think it's about time you tell them."

Tsunade shook her head. "I want to keep my promise to his protector."

"Protector?" Iruka prodded on.

"All I can assure you is he's alive and safe. Isn't that enough, Iruka?"

Iruka was crying now. "But I want to see him."

"He will come back. I can bet my life on it."

"Why can't you just tell us? Master Tsunade, you heard this man. He knew that Naruto was alive. It would be too foolish of us to assume that that was the only thing he knew. For all we know, Madara might now be on his way to capture Naruto."

"He is in Sanmyaku," Hyuuga Hiashi said. "It was where you sent my nephew, right, Hokage-dono?"

Tsunade glanced at Hiashi.

"Hokage-dono, the people inside this hall will not betray Konoha's hero," Hiashi said.

Zhao Xing Li, Temari's grandfather and mentor, hobbled forward with his gourd of sake. The Hyuuga Elder walked beside him. "I can understand the sentiment of those who care for Uzumaki Naruto, but we are about to face a threat more important than his life."

"Tsunade-sama told us that Naruto has now his protector," the Hyuuga Elder said. "And she had already sent five of the best of Konoha as reinforcement. What is there to be afraid of?"

"But you know Naruto, Sensei. He's—"

Master Zhao cut Iruka off. "Strong. Are you planning to leave the village in favor of satiating your desire of seeing him in flesh?"

"It's not what I mean, Sensei," Iruka said.

"Then what do you _mean_?" Zhao shook his head and sighed. He looked up at Tsunade, glanced briefly at Iruka, who at the moment was sobbing silently, and then smiled. "Hokage-dono, I think it'd be better if you told everyone about this news. From what we just heard, the enemy probably knows more about Naruto than his allies."

Iruka glanced up with astonished eyes. "Sensei…"

Zhao smiled more. "With the threat of an attack sitting on our stoop, nothing can be a more adequate morale booster than a good news."

Tsunade looked around and all she could see were expressions of hope—hope that she would accede. "Forgive me, Hashirama-ojii-sama," she whispered. She inhaled a lungful. "I understand."

…

Tsunade spoke in front of Konoha that day. At first, the villagers were infuriated at Tsunade, but when they finally understood that the Hokage had just been trying to protect Naruto, that fury was replaced by joy. When the night came, the clans and organizations in the village conducted their individual celebrations. The festivities would continue for five days.

Teams were sent to the allied villages of Konoha: Suna, Kumo, Iwa, Kiri, Haga, and Hyoo. Some of the village leaders, especially the Tetsukage and Raikage, had some suspicion about the news. Immediately both sent envoys to Konoha to ask for more details. The Hokage filled them in with what she knew and had gathered. Nara Shikaku, the head of the investigation, showed the envoys the fake body that the enemy had used to deceive them. The envoys assured the Hokage full cooperation in hunting down the primary suspect, Jocho Shizumaru. Tsunade was very grateful of their loyalty.

Gaara delegated a non-working holiday the day after he heard of the news. "This is a great joy for me. If I'm feeling this way, I don't want to work," Gaara said. "I want to celebrate." Kankuro, Suna's General Commander, let his brother relax for a while. He was happy, too, that Naruto was still alive, but he was more bothered by the other news. First, Sasuke was still alive. Second, Orochimaru was planning an all-out attack against Konoha. As Konoha's sister village, these issues were already a concern for Suna. Kankuro could not sit back and relax even if a reason to celebrate was there and hovering on the air. Every second was important. He just could not blame Gaara for slacking off for a day. Besides, his little brother needed it.

Kankuro went to Suna's Ninja Academy to discuss these problems with Temari. Akira, the pleasant-looking clerk, greeted him.

"Temari-san? She's not here, sir. She hasn't turned up yet. But I think you know where to find her."

"Really?"

And he did. There was a temple at the eastern corner of Suna. Gaara had insisted that the monks build a small obelisk for Naruto at the back of the temple. Kankuro arrived on Temari hugging her knees in front of the obelisk.

"Don't you dare laugh," she said.

Kankuro did not ask her anything. He just said okay, and then left. When he reached the gate, he heard a loud explosion coming from the back of the temple. Temari was wearing a pair of large sunglasses when she walked out. As she passed by Kankuro, who was leaning with arms crossed against the post, she raised her finger and said, "I want to be alone." Kankuro sighed, but instead of being a pest, he chose to just reply with an understanding nod.

"I don't want to wait here for his arrival."

"I thought so."

Temari nodded, and began to climb down the steps.

Killer Bee was not at all surprised that something like this would happen. He was a living witness of Naruto's miracles. He was happy to hear the good news, but was more concerned about Sasuke. Sasuke was the only person who had almost defeated him in the past. Hearing that he was still alive sent a tingle of excitement along Bee's spine. The Raikage sent a letter of appreciation to Tsunade. In the letter, he promised that Kumo would assist Konoha against her enemy in any manner his village could.

The other villages expressed their joy through gifts, letters, and envoys. During the week, Konoha received a staggering twelve thousand tourists because of the news. The villagers received their foreign guests with immaculate hospitality, all smiles and gentleness, which the tourists enjoyed very much. Two thousand merchant caravans roamed the village and stayed for days. Konoha's informers took advantage of this and gathered as much information as they could.

One day Kakashi felt someone following him. It was a small presence and hardly noticeable. Because there were a lot of people in the village lately, he thought that his stalker was only one of the children who had become fond of his white hair and black mask.

His stalker went on following him until Kakashi got tired of the itch on the back of his head. When he reached a junction, Kakashi suddenly turned left. His stalker was alarmed and hastily went to follow. As the stalker turned left, a hand grabbed at the scruff of her dress.

"A little girl?"

"Put me down! Put me down, now!"

"Oh, quite demanding for a little girl, eh?"

The girl glared at him. Kakashi scrutinized the girl. She had black eyes, a white complexion—if dirty—and tangled black hair. Put me down, put me down, demanded the girl. Kakashi went on inspecting her until he found a faded mark in the center of her chest. _Tomoe marks?_

"Are you one of the tourists?"

"No!" The girl stopped struggling. "Are you Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Are you an assassin?"

"Hello? Don't you see how helpless I am?"

"How did you know my name?"

"Mister…" The girl looked up to recall a name. She frowned, chewed at her cheeks, and then pouted. "That's weird. I'm sure I knew his name."

"That's not important for now. Where did you get this mark?" He poked the child's chest.

"Could you put me down?" Kakashi did so, but his eyes did not leave the girl's face. The girl looked at the faded tomoe marks on her chest. "I don't remember. I've been asking myself about this, too."

"Hmmm…that's a curse mark. Orochimaru's curse mark."

The statement hit the girl like a hammerblow. She stared up at Kakashi, dumbfounded. Then the glitter of realization in her eyes faded away as if it had never been there. "Curse mark? Who's Orochimaru? Anyway, Kakashi-san, I'm not here to know about this mark on my chest. I'm here to bring a letter to you."

"A letter?"

"In exchange," the girl smiled at him, "promise me that you'll let us live here in Konoha. By the way, my name is Lily."

Lily took Kakashi to a cave in the edge of the forest. A boy of no more than ten suddenly stopped when he saw them. He dropped the kindling he was carrying and ran into the cave. After a moment, a thin girl of sixteen got out of the cave. The little boy hid behind her. She was glaring at Kakashi, but her expression softened when she saw how relaxed Lily was beside the man.

"This is Hatake Kakashi-san, Kazue-onee-chan," Lily said.

Kazue stared at Kakashi for a while longer before she told Lily to watch over the children. Lily obeyed promptly. Kazue beckoned Kakashi to follow her as she began to trot down to the river. Once there, Kazue put her hands on her hips.

"You don't have to scrunch up your pretty face so much, Kazue-san. I understand that you don't trust me," Kakashi said.

"Hmph."

"Lily told me that she had a letter for me."

Kazue's fingers tensed. "Everyone, except me, had their memories erased." She ripped her right sleeve and showed the faded tomoe mark on it. "We were Orochimaru's guinea pigs. Uchiha Sasuke saved us. Now, it is up to you to give us a new life."

"Sasuke?"

Kazue related to him what Sasuke had done. Kazue said that she had been the third one that Sasuke had spared. Orochimaru ordered Sasuke to destroy his laboratories and bring him his strongest human samples as part of his preparation to destroy Konoha. He wanted the strongest in his ranks. However, Sasuke disobeyed Orochimaru and went on killing everyone Sasuke deemed unredeemable. He chose only those whom he found a glimmer of humanity lingering in their souls. Those who had not he killed ruthlessly.

"He let me choose because he said that my mind was strong enough to uproot the evil thoughts Orochimaru had planted in me. I chose not to forget. Afterwards he used a technique on me to neutralize my curse. You can confirm it if you want. He said that you had a Sharingan."

"I do," Kakashi said. "I'm just a little surprised that he would do this."

"I was, too. I've known Sasuke for a long time. I was one of Orochimaru's candidates to be his new body. I tried to escape. That was why Orochimaru threw me out into one of his labs." Kazue tore off her tattered sleeve from its seam, turned around, and kicked at a stone. The stone bounded over the water three times before diving to the bottom. "He's changed. That's all I can say. I want to trade, Kakashi-san. I will trade the information I have for citizenship in your village."

"It's not that easy."

Kazue flinched as if stung. "Sasuke assured us that you would give us a place to stay."

"How can I be sure that you are not sent here by Orochimaru himself?"

"You can't. You just have to trust my words, and Sasuke's." Kazue got from her robe a letter and raised it to Kakashi. "This is what he gave me."

Kakashi scanned the yellowish parchment. Indeed, it was Sasuke's penmanship. It said, "These children were all victims of Orochimaru's madness. Take care of them. Please, Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke." Kakashi folded the paper and put it in his vest's breast pocket. "How many are you?"

Kazue began to smile, but she suppressed it at the final moment. It was no use to Kakashi. He could see the tremendous relief on her face. "Twenty-two. I'm the oldest. I'm sixteen. The youngest is six."

"Do you still remember where you came from?"

"We are all orphans. Orochimaru had burned our homes to the ground. We don't have anyone left to care for us."

Kakashi stood akimbo and looked up at the blue sky. Then he sighed. He summoned Paku.

"Kakashi! It's been a long time," Paku said.

"I have something for you to report to the Hokage."

Paku looked at the young girl and nodded. "I understand."

…

"Shizune, bring your medical equipment!" That had been Tsunade's last order before she jumped off to follow Paku. As she leaped off from roof to roof, four medical-nins, Shizune, and Chouji, carrying his rejuvenating pills, joined her in pursuit of Kakashi's ninja dog.

Kakashi immediately filled Tsunade in when she arrived. He introduced Kazue to Tsunade, and the two became friends right away. Kakashi could only cluck his tongue against the roof of his mouth. _Senjus,_ he thought, seeing Naruto's face in his mind. The medical-nins checked the children up while Chouji fed them with his pills.

Lily was delighted to see kind people caring for her and her friends. This was her first time ever since her mother. The other children, even though a little wary of strangers and strangers to kindness, were at least relieved to receive such tenderness and care. Their eyes shone in contentment and relief. Every now and then, small smiles would show on their lips when the joker medical-nin Satsu cracked his jokes that were too corny you just had to smile at them.

Tsunade assured Kazue that it would not be that difficult to have citizenship if they could find a guardian. She said that she would talk to the clan heads and ask if they were willing to adopt them. "Being Orochimaru's former interests, I'm sure that you are all gifted with unique abilities," she said. "The clans will fight over you like dogs for a piece of red meat."

Back in the Office of the Hokage, Tsunade and her commanders analyzed the information that Kazue had given her. It included critical places, hideouts, and names of Akatsuki's shinobis. Kakashi said that he would corroborate what they had got with Pakkun's information. It would take at least two weeks before he could formulate a plausible dissection. Shikaku, on the other hand, was in the process of investigating six leads he had discovered about Jocho Shizumaru. Yes, Kazue had said, she knew Shizumaru and he was just a kid. Shikaku admitted that Kazue's knowledge about Shizumaru was a big plus for the investigation.

"For now, we should start preparing teams in accordance to what we've learned. Kakashi, make sure that the other villages receive this information as well. I'm also scheduling a convention of the allied hidden villages in two weeks. Can you do that?" Kakashi answered in the affirmative and immediately got to work. After a few more instructions, Tsunade adjourned the meeting.

"Tsunade-sensei."

Tsunade turned and saw Iruka with apologetic eyes. "What is it?"

"I want to apologize for acting like a child earlier. I'm sorry, Master."

"How do you think I'd feel if I were in your shoes? Go on. Let's finish this up. I want that kid experience peace when he comes back."

Through trembling lips, Iruka said, "Thank you, Sensei."

…

The guard on the tower was awakened from his nap when he heard the soft rumbling of engines coming from the south. Immediately, he wiped the drool that was clinging on his chin and used his binoculars to look at the source of the sound. He thought that Kogiwara had sent a fleet to attack Tanimori, but upon closer inspection he recognized the flag with a golden eagle inside a ring of fire: the Crest of Taka! He threw the binoculars away and blew through the horn to alarm the manor of the incoming fleet.

Atsuko, Hibarashi's personal secretary, greeted Yori and her soldiers. She reported to the princess that Hibarashi had already left for Xeinzhi and was expecting them within three days. "Kogiwara refused to settle it, peacefully, Princess. The kingdom made its attack four days ago. Nue replied by attacking Kali, a district in Buxing."

Yori was not interested in the war. "Where is Naruto? Take me to him, now!"

Atsuko's lips tightened, looking around for support. She did not find any—her men were five meters behind her—so she settled for her toes.

"Why aren't you responding?" Yori's eyes seemed to scorch the soldiers behind Atsuko. They cringed when she glared at them. "What's going on?"

Atsuko squared her shoulders and looked at Yori. "Princess, we need to take the evacuation team to Xeinzhi fast. We received information that—"

Yori collared the pretty secretary. "I don't care about that! I want my husband! Take me to him, now!"

Up on the mothership, Shikamaru and his team watched the scene below. Sakura asked him what he could make out of it, and he replied honestly: Yori is asking about Naruto and the thin woman is afraid to tell the princess the truth.

"You are saying that something happened to Naruto? There? _There_?"

"I don't know. I don't have the best location to read their lips. Don't ruin my concentration." Shikamaru began whispering what he could extract from the conversation. "Don't know…almost two weeks ago…espionage…tried to save a spy…"

"Fucking…I can't stand this anymore!" Momoko said. She marched up the gangway and jumped off down to the side door manned by a Taka soldier. "Open up!"

"Inuzuka-sama—"

Momoko snarled and pushed the soldier away. She turned the wheel on the door. The lock unlatched with a loud crank. "Shikamaru, I'm going down." Cold wind hit her face when she pushed the door open. Then, without hesitation, she leaped off from the ship. It was floating 200 feet from the ground.

"Uzuken: Ashi no Kaminari!" (_Whirlpool Fist Style: Thunder Legs)_ Momoko landed with a massive explosion, digging out plates of earth around her. A gust of wind emanated from her impact. The soldiers gaped at her in astonishment.

Momoko's oversized legs began to grow back into their original size. Before they completely changed back to normal, she used the remaining charge in her muscles to speed-stride the distance separating her from Yori. She seemed to have teleported beside the blue haired princess.

"What happened to Naruto?" Momoko asked. "Where the hell is he?"

Yori, instead of reprimanding the super rude shinobi, joined Momoko in glaring at Atsuko.

Couldn't endure the pressure anymore, Atsuko gave in. "I'm sorry, Princess. Naruto-sama chose the spy. They were banished from the estate. I don't know where they went."

"What?" Yori and Momoko blurted out.

"Do you know who Naruto is?" Yori said. "He is Taka's hero. He is my _husband._ He is a _prince_ of my kingdom."

"I'm sorry. It was Hibarashi-dono's decision."

"Damn it." Yori took out a silver key from her pocket. She put it in Atsuko's hands. "I'm transferring to you the command of Nue's evacuation fleet. I'm going to look for Naruto." Without another word, she walked away.

Momoko put an arm around Yori's waist and used her technique to hop off onto the deck of the ship. Yori did not even blink. Thank you was all she said as she trotted towards the door.

Yori approached the waiting shinobis inside the bridge. "Kaguya, I can't take you with me. I'm straying from my mission. I don't know what happened to my husband—"

"Could you refrain using that word in front of us?" Sakura said.

Yori sighed, impatiently. "I'm going to look for Naruto. He is with a spy. Kaguya, you need to go back to the Sumiragi estate. It will be dangerous for your people if you are not there to lead them."

Kaguya hesitated for a few seconds before answering. "Okay. I guess I have no choice."

"We're coming with her," Shikamaru unexpectedly said. All eyes fell on him.

"What are you saying? No! I'm staying with this woman," Sakura said.

"No. We will move as a team. I will not allow you to break away from us."

"He is right," Shino added. "I've learned what you talked about from my bugs. No one knows where Naruto is headed. It might be possible that he had chosen to head for Amagi."

Ino was watching the scene as if she knew something more than that.

Momoko and Sakura were considering Shikamaru's suggestion.

"Where would you head to, Princess?" Shikamaru said.

"North," Yori said. The fire in her eyes was still burning.

"Amagi is west," Shikamaru said. "We're going on foot. We don't want to attract Kogiwara's attention by travelling on air." He looked around. Sakura was opposed to the idea of leaving Yori alone, he could feel it. Momoko was gritting her teeth, her chiseled jaw moving with tension. Only Shino and Ino expressed agreement.

"Listen, I'm a _princess_," Yori said. "I will not do something that will shame my father's name."

"You don't understand," Sakura said, suppressing a sob. "You don't understand at all. Okay, Shikamaru, I'm going with you."

Momoko sighed. "Count me in."

"I do understand, Sakura-san," Yori said.

"Good luck, then," Sakura said, sarcastically.

"You need it more than I do."

Sakura grunted. "Come on, Shikamaru. Let's transfer to the evacuation fleet. We can ask them to drop us off near Amagi."

"No. We're dropping off here," Shikamaru said.

_To be continued…_


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Searching the Hiding Maiden

It had rained last night. That was why they were walking on wet soil today. The leaves bore snippets of dew drops, clinging onto them like little transparent jewels. Mud and silt grabbed at their sandals. White fog covered the surrounding and the sun had yet to come up from the east. The sky already had the color of the morning, but the source of the light was still hiding beneath the horizon. The trail snaked up between the trees. Small streams flowed helter-skelter down the slope. There was so much water in small quantity, but for three days, they had not seen a river.

"A day, he said, a day," Aika grumbled. "I want to take a bath."

Katsuo swiped aside a branch as he walked by. The branch swatted Aika in the face when Katsuo's arm freed the branch.

"Katsuo-senpai! Be careful!" Aika rubbed her face in irritation. She looked up. Chiasa served as their guide. She had once crossed Hashaboro and, in her calculation, it would take another day to reach the hot springs. The notion did not abate the itch on Aika. She badly wanted to take a bath. Adding to her discomfort, the needles began to bother the patch of skin in her forehead the branch had hit.

Her gray eyes moved again and this time they stopped at her Naruto-onii-chan's back. Among all things Naruto troubled her the most. She still could not understand what had made Naruto this way. He had become so…perfunctory. It was as if someone had taken over him and the Naruto she knew was just sitting as a passenger and enjoying the view. She shared views with everyone. They all worried for him, but no matter what they did, he kept on walking like a doll, eyes glazed and far away. Always like that. He would answer them if asked, but curtly. Most of the time it was a yes or a no, or in some occasions, a mysterious smile that did not do anything but made their hair stand on ends. Kushina had tried talking to him last night inside his tent. It had lasted for thirty minutes or so. It had ended with a teary scream from Kushina. Since then, Aika had become irritable. No, it was not right. _All_ of them had stopped smiling.

This had started the day Hibarashi's driver left them in this forest. The first few hours had been great as conversations accompanied walking feet. The night fell. Neji assigned them their duties. She and Naruto were assigned to fetch water. Walking back with six leather pouches of water, Naruto suddenly stopped and told her that he wanted to meditate for a while. Aika replied with a sly smile, saying that she would like to watch him. He replied with a gentle but firm no. She tried to plead. She said that she would watch from a distance. He told her that he wanted to talk to Yumiko, the Biju inside him, and that ended the conversation. She understood that he needed privacy when doing that. Back at the camp, everyone asked about Naruto. "He's going to meditate," she said with a smile. After an hour, Naruto came back. They did not notice it until the next morning. When Aika took a bowl of porridge to him for breakfast, he gave her that creepy smile. Then he wouldn't talk anymore.

"Hey, Chiasa, rather than a hot spring, why don't you take us to a village?" Kushina asked. "I'm worried about my son."

Chiasa stopped walking and glanced back at Kushina. It seemed that she would speak, but she kept silent. Aika knew why. Chiasa had tried to invade Naruto's subconscious using her Sharingan, but failed. It had disarmed her. Aika thought that Chiasa had not failed in something like this before and it scared her. Chiasa shifted her attention on a hole in a dead tree. Then she shook her head.

"I know of a village around here," she said. "Savages live there. I can't recommend even passing near that place."

"Dimension…" Naruto murmured.

Kushina almost jumped upon hearing her son's raspy voice. It increased her anxiety. She put her hands protectively on Naruto's shoulders. "But we can try. They might know of something…of someone, who can help."

"Parallel…another me…" Naruto went on muttering.

Aika rubbed her upper arms. The hair on them began to stand. Even Naruto's voice sounded detached, a voice coming from another person.

"Stop it! Stop it, do you hear me?" Kushina said. Naruto turned to her and smiled. Kushina blanched. Her hand whipped towards his face. Naruto staggered from the force, but kept on smiling. Kushina put a hand over her mouth and cried. "I can't take this anymore. Naruto, what is happening with you?"

Neji helped Naruto up. "Calm down, Kushina-san. Panicking will not help anyone."

"_What_ will help us then? What, Neji?"

Naruto absently brushed the mud on his butt, smearing it around on his pants.

"We must reach Ajit fast," Lee said. His energy, usually a vibrant and youthful yellow, was now a glum and dull gray, like everybody else.

"This is our fourth day! The driver told us that we could cross Hashaboro in one day. Where will _fast_ enter the equation?"

"I'm sorry I haven't told you," Chiasa said. "That driver must have last crossed Hashaboro ten years or so ago. The underground passage that travelers used to cross Hashaboro had collapsed because of an earthquake. This is the only route we can take."

"Then we had better get going," Neji said. He nodded at Tenten, and the oriental girl promptly came up behind Kushina. She put an arm around Kushina's waist, half-pulling, half-carrying the distressed woman.

They walked on.

Aika pushed aside thoughts about her onii-chan. She concentrated on climbing the muddy slope that by then had already begun to become steeper. Looking up, she saw the path's seemingly endless stretch. How long were they going to walk? She pulled herself up using a root and unexpectedly smashed her nose on Katsuo's broad back. The huge man had stopped walking. He looked around, sniffing the air.

"Katsuo-senpai—"

"Shush."

Aika raised an eyebrow and noticed the silence. Everyone had stopped and was standing as still as a rock. Aika became impatient, but she was more scared. She posed to use her Byakugan to see what was going on.

"Don't use it, Aika," Katsuo said. He stared at Chiasa. "They smelled of mud and leaves. We are surrounded."

Chiasa's Sharingan glowed in the semi-darkness. "Then we have no choice."

…

Aika crouched and subconsciously her feet took her beside Naruto. Eyeing the semi-darkness, she thought she could see small glimmers from the distance, like eyes of wolves. Everyone formed a circle protectively around Naruto. Aika saw the grave faces of her companions. Their heads were slightly tilted forward, eyes filled with vigilance.

"There is only one thing that you should never do no matter what," Chiasa said. "Don't kill them. It will be best to just put them to sleep."

"What?" Only Kushina uttered the question, but everyone's eyes were asking the same thing.

"If one of them is killed, the whole tribe will chase us to hell," Chiasa said. "Don't make the first attack. Make the impression that we are only defending ourselves."

Eerie silence came on them, only to be broken by the shriek of the wind. Aika could hear the fast beating of her heart. And even though it was cold, she perspired profusely.

"Bring me to a place where I can sit still, please," Naruto suddenly said. "Please take me to a place where I can sit still."

"What are you saying?" Setsuko said. This was the first time she had spoken ever since Naruto became a walking case. "This is not the right time for that!"

"Please," Naruto said in a small voice.

"You're not making any sense, Naruto!" Now it was Tenten. It seemed that one by one those who had decided to keep their mouths shut to maintain an acceptable atmosphere amidst the troubling situation were losing their self-control. "We are surrounded by enemies, you hear me?"

"Please," Naruto repeated.

Aika heard the urgency in his voice despite its smallness. She took the time to observe him. Upon seeing the expression on his face, which was close to crying, a hand grabbed at her heart. That expression convinced her that if she did not do what he had requested, she would lose him permanently. For a moment, she stood weighing two choices. Should she find a place for Naruto with her Byakugan, or should she remain practical and prioritize their lives?

"They're taking their time," Katsuo said. "They're expert hunters. They know that we are afraid."

Aika made her decision. She grabbed Chiasa's hand. "Chiasa-san, do you know a place for onii-chan?"

Chiasa's eyes exposed her indecision. She, too, was weighing her options.

"Chiasa-san, I think Naruto-onii-chan _badly_ needs it."

Chiasa flicked a glance at Naruto, and she blinked in comprehension. "All right. There is a small clearing ten meters ahead of us. We will head there as slowly as we can. Assist him."

Aika did. She entwined her fingers with his, willing her energy to flow into him so that he would know that she was prepared to give her life for him. She tugged at his hand and began to climb up. Naruto followed like a reined donkey, eyes cast down, breathing like he was asleep. "We are almost there," she said. "Almost there, onii-chan."

Aika beckoned for the group to follow them. She heard a harsh breath passing through Setsuko's clenched teeth, a testimony without words that told her disagreement. It was easy to see that Setsuko wanted to stay where they were. She could not blame her. Moving would diminish some of their perception as a part of the brain put some of its focus on locomotion. With the enemy just waiting behind the darkness to pounce on them, moving was really not that attractive an option.

As they climbed up, Aika could feel eyes following them. Her grip on Naruto's hand tightened. White plumes highlighted every fast batch of breath she made. Then, amidst the silence, she felt something. It was weird but Setsuko began to fade from the periphery of her senses. But she could see her! Setsuko was moving with them, moving slowly as the rest. What was happening? Why was Setsuko's impression slowly thinning? Aika looked around. It seemed that everyone was still unaware of the change. Were they? Casting her eyes on Neji, she realized that she was wrong. Neji was obviously ignoring it. Even Katsuo shot knowing glances in Setsuko's direction.

"We're close," Chiasa said.

"Good," Neji replied. "Setsuko, I'll be counting on you."

Setsuko nodded.

Aika could not understand at all. What was her Neji-onii-chan talking about? What was Setsuko being counted on for? Setsuko's fading continued on as the distance to the small clearing shortened. Aika could only hope for the best. Whatever was happening, Neji's set jaws and confident eyes were enough to reassure a chance against their unseen enemies. Then finally Setsuko vanished from everything but her eyes. She could not have noticed the difference even if she had done her best to compare Setsuko against the surrounding. Setsuko literally became one with them. Her temperature, her atomic vibrations, and her presence became that of a nearby tree. Aika was like seeing a _solid_ illusion. An assassin, she thought. Setsuko could be a fearsome assassin if she would continue honing her ability. Aika trembled. Never in her life had she been this overwhelmed before. She had been in the impression of superiority all her life. Glancing back at Chiasa and now at Setsuko as she vanished from her senses, Aika felt that impression crumbling into a pit inside her, of which existence she had been oblivious of or had never thought to be possible.

Setsuko went to Chiasa to ask about something. Aika ignored it because her attention had shifted one hundred percent to Naruto. Her onii-chan's breathing had stopped, it seemed. A horrible second passed wherein Naruto's pupils dilated like a dead man's. She willed herself to suppress a shriek because she knew that it would make the other girls crazy. Instead, she put her arm around him and gently crooned endearments into his ear. A memory occurred to her. She had met a yogi in the past who had described a state called suspended animation. Here a man enters super consciousness where the body stills and the soul opens up to meet with God. As she remembered it, Naruto had not gone to study yoga or anything that encompassed techniques to reach that state. It frightened her so much she wanted to throw up and cry. She kept asking herself, _Are we there yet? Are we there yet?_

Aika watched as Setsuko nodded in understanding. Then she said to them, "I'm going. Please stay alive."

In normal situations, it could have sounded as betrayal. But today they could just trust Setsuko. Setsuko dashed through the bushes and vanished like a ghost into the darkness of the forest.

"Wolf Sage Mode," Katsuo said. "One that conforms to nature."

"She is a Sage, too?" Aika asked. "I thought Naruto-onii-chan was the only Sage in the world!"

"He is a Toad Sage. One that asks from nature."

"We're here," Chiasa said.

The clearing was a flat piece of earth about one hundred square meters in size. A big tree stood in the center of the clearing, short and bulky with long, root-like vines hanging down like hair from its branches. Aika immediately guided Naruto beneath the tree.

"You can sit now, onii-chan," Aika said. She watched as Naruto lowered himself and sat crossed legged on the damp soil. Her comrades had already positioned themselves around the clearing, and she was thinking to go into position too when Naruto grabbed her hand.

"Protect me, Aika," he said. "Protect me until I come back."

It was uncharacteristic of him to ask something like that because usually he would say the opposite. But, nevertheless, she was happy. The trust her onii-chan was putting on her diminished the fear she felt. She took hold of Naruto's face and said, "I will. I will protect you, my love." She had never attempted to sound so cheesy, but it came out, unexpectedly. It did not matter. It was the truth anyway. She leaned forward and kissed his lips, and then she let go and left.

…

His conversation with Aika was the last memory he had of the real world. Miraculously, he had succeeded in going up to the surface however brief it had been. Now he was back in the darkness. He could not remember how long it had been since he started floating in this world without light. It seemed to have happened centuries ago. All he had tried to do was tap into Yumiko's chakra so that he could talk with her. Ever since that fateful night, Yumiko had never spoken anything to him. It was like she had ceased to exist. The situation had bothered Naruto, and as he was, he could not leave it alone.

But try as best as he could, he kept on failing to reach her. He could not find her anywhere inside the span of the darkness. She did not answer his calls. She ignored his pleas. He had cried many times, but she did not give a response. He succumbed to his depression and promised himself and the relentless darkness that he would not go back empty handed. The darkness seemed to hear him so when he got tired of the suffocating place and wished to get some fresh air outside, he could no longer go.

For years, in his point of view at least, he floated inside the dimensional space, not moving a single centimeter. He watched the dark wall enclosing him make a play with its color, changing from black to purple to dark blue, and then back to black again. There was no sound inside the space, and at first it had frightened the living hell out of him. He had gasped in dread when he noticed that he could not hear anything, and then doubled over when he realized that his gasp had no sound.

He got used to it after sometime, thinking that he could do nothing about it. So he waited. He waited like a lover in the rain for his maiden to show compassion. He thought he could accept anything from her by now, be it compassion or fury. It would make no difference. He just wanted to apologize. He would never make excuses. She could insult him if she wanted, bury him alive in scorching curses and bad words. All he wished was for her to show up.

The silhouette made his first appearance a little after his depression threatened to invade again. The presence was eerily familiar, like a close friend. Naruto suspected that it was Yumiko playing tricks on him like what foxes usually did. But it was not Yumiko. The silhouette was not, even a little, resembled Yumiko.

"We will soon meet, my other self," the silhouette said.

"What? Who are you?"

"I'm of a different dimension."

"A different dimension? What are you talking about?"

"A parallel world. In short, I'm another you."

Naruto was confused if anything at the sudden appearance of the stranger that had began mugging him with non-sensible claims. What was this dimension crap all about? What was this other self? He frowned. He supposed that he was now beginning to reap the effect of him staying too long inside the darkness. Some screw in his head might have loosened and jumped off from its hole. That must be it. No other way around it. He closed his eyes and drew up three calming breaths. To his astonishment, the silhouette did not disappear.

"Our time to face each other is coming. But first, do something about her," the silhouette said, raising one arm to point to his right. "Stop waiting like an idiot. Waiting for too long will not solve anything."

Naruto pushed down every doubt and prejudice he had about the stranger. He said, "I don't even know where to find her!"

The silhouette sighed. "Listen. In my world, I'm something you'll call a criminal, but there is something I always follow. It's my instinct. I'm far away from you, but I can feel her. She's close enough to bash your brains out of your skull."

With that the silhouette disappeared. He called for him for a time until he understood what he had been trying to say. Instinct. What had he been doing this past (years) days? So he decided to ask for help. He knew that his physical body was moving and he would not be able to have a perfect focus if he was moving. He concentrated on waking up, but it proved to be very hard. The darkness pulled at him every time, never giving him the chance to escape. He did not give up, and after an overdose of pain and frustrated attempts, he was able to come to.

"Bring me to a place where I can sit still, please," he said. He could hear desperation in his voice. "Please take me to a place where I can sit still."

"What are you saying?" a familiar voice said. "This is not the right time for that!"

"Please."

"You're not making any sense, Naruto!" Another familiar voice. "We are surrounded by enemies, you hear me?"

Enemies? No. He did not have the time to worry about anything right now. He needed to be still.

"Please," he repeated. The darkness pulled him down, and now an arm-like apparition curled around his neck. He choked and struggled to get free. He wedged an arm in between his neck and the spirit arm, and then heaved. The arm tightened. Specks of red began appearing in his vision. His lungs burned and he was beginning to get a nauseating dizziness. He closed and opened his free hand to push some of the blood back up to his head, but it was not making any difference. His vision was getting dimmer and dimmer every second that passed. Goodness, was he going to die here? "Yumiko," he croaked. "Help me."

After those words came out his mouth, the spirit arm melted. He fell to his knees and heaved. Tears over brimmed his eyes, dropped onto the darkness, and went on dropping. He rubbed at his neck, hacking away the itchiness and ache in it. "Yumiko, are you this angry with me?" An invisible hand shoved him sideways, forcing the air in his lungs to gush out of him. Blood rushed out his nose and made a pool somewhere in the bottom of the space. The fright of being suspended in a dark, unknown space was nagging at him again. He let himself a chuckle of amusement. He was experiencing a mixture of emotions here and he could not do a damn thing about it. Not an iota of nothing. But the thing was Yumiko had responded. It was enough to pull him back on his feet.

Now he heard from every where a voice saying, "You can sit now, onii-chan." He did not care who it was. He pushed himself up like he was at the bottom of a lake. Finding the sensation of reality, he said, "Protect me, Aika. Protect me until I come back." He wondered how he knew that it was Aika, but he had no time for answers. He began sinking into the space again. He felt but a fleeting feeling of hands on his face and the faint "…my love" as he went down. Finally, he reached the bottom, and just then did he let his eyes close.

…

Wind. What he felt on his face was wind. What he smelled from it was dust. He opened his eyes and found himself on top of a red plateau. Above dark nimbus clouds swirled languorously and lightning flashed when it had a chance. Thunder boomed after each flash. Naruto could not see blue. It looked like it was already dusk in here. Around innumerable red plateaus stood proudly like living but immobile sentinels. They had a peculiar shape. The base was a circle. The trunk tapered off from the base up to a point in the center where it began to increase in size again. It then ended into a wide crown of which size was enough to serve as a stage for a match. The shape made Naruto think of the hourglass that Zuko had used in their fight. The wind howled. Dust danced to its rhythm. Then a woman materialized at the opposite edge of the plateau. Naruto's eyes widened in recognition.

The woman was tall with black hair tied in a pony tail. She wore a black and gold armor and a priestess robe beneath it. The top of the robe was white while the bottom was red. In her right hand, she carried a heavy sword of pure steel with a spine made of gold. She was a beautiful woman. She had the kind of beauty too rare for the present world. Except her eyes. Those eyes knew death, pain, and sadness. There was no color in them. Looking into them, Naruto saw her unforgiving resolve to kill and just kill even without a reason or a purpose. He knew that the woman was Yumiko, but this was not the woman whom he had vowed fidelity to. This woman was who Yumiko had been in the past: the Crimson Queen.

"Yumiko…"

Yumiko glanced up, her emotionless eyes piercing his soul. Guilt made it hard for Naruto to breathe. "It's you or it's me," Yumiko said. "I won't give you anything else."

"Yumiko, please listen to me," Naruto said, spreading his arms in plea.

Yumiko screamed. A gust of wind blasted Naruto backwards. If he hadn't dug his feet into the ground and leaned forward to push against it, he might have tumbled off of the plateau.

"Listen? No. I'm tired of that word. You made me a promise. I expected too much. Now I'm hurting." A cynical smile formed on Yumiko's lips. "Aren't you here for my power?"

"No! I'm here to—"

"I'll give you all my power. If you defeat me, I'll give you everything of me, unconditionally. You can do to me anything you want. Rape me, torture me, and humiliate me on your whim. I won't care."

"I will never do that!"

Yumiko laughed, contemptuously. "You will. You will not be able to control yourself. Kings had fought over me in the past. Even holy men were tempted and did unholy things to make me their possession. You are but a lowly dog who had the good fortune to be my container. Who are you to act so clean? Who are you to be so proud? You are not different from those men. You—"

"_Stop it!"_ Naruto bellowed for a full five seconds. When he stopped, veins stood out on his neck and his eyes glistened in ferocity. His blue eyes turned into a deeper pair of blue to match the coldness in Yumiko's eyes. "If you need proof of my being, then be it. I'll show you who I really am and how much I can do for you."

The skin underneath Yumiko's left eye ticked. "Big mouth," she said. "That's the only thing you are good at. Bragging. Without me, you wouldn't have been who you are today."

Naruto raised a trembling finger at her. "I'll defeat you. I'll prove to you that…that you are very important to me."

Yumiko gripped the leather-bound hilt of her sword. "Before you can, I'll kill you."

_To be continued…_


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46: Yumiko

"Prepare yourself!" Yumiko began to sprint and gained speed in no time. She dropped the tip of her sword on the ground. The blade plowed out the soil, creating a menacing demonstration of how deadly her sword was.

Yumiko pulled the blade towards Naruto's neck. Naruto used a kunai to block her attack, and then stepped in to blow her ribs with a punch. But Yumiko was too fast that before he could begin moving his fist, the sword started to swing back, now in reverse. Naruto immediately shifted his weight on his left foot, drew another kunai from his right pocket, and slashed up. Yumiko's swing was strong and her sword nicked a piece out of the kunai, but it stopped the slash. Now, Naruto was on his way to deliver a punch into Yumiko's stomach. This was met by two fast knees into his own and a frontal kick to his chest. Naruto blinked at the speed of the delivery and at the fact that Yumiko had only used her left leg. Pain shot up from his stomach. His left hand came to catch it, grabbing at the fabric over it, crumpling it as if it would go away by doing so. It did not go away and he remained crouching until the pain abated.

"Does it hurt?" she said in mockery.

Naruto straightened his posture. "Hurt? Not at all. Come at me with all you got, Yumiko. Your attack was nothing."

Yumiko's smile disappeared like it had never been there.

"I have a question for you," Naruto said. "Did you erase the memory you'd given me about your past? Have you given up on me? Is the deal off?"

"Are you so dumb not to realize? The deal was bonded by trust. My trust. I did not even care if you trusted me or not. It was I who had put my trust on you. Now it's gone. I don't trust you anymore. In your words, the deal is off."

"I see. Are you okay with that?"

"I've never been okay with anything before."

Naruto scoffed. "Are you really?"

Yumiko gritted her teeth and her hand trembled. "Stop taking me for a fool!"

Naruto wiped the smirk off his mouth and glowered at Yumiko. "Am I?"

Yumiko cried shrilly. She sprinted towards Naruto with blazing eyes. "I'm going to kill you!" She jumped, lifted her sword over her head, and slashed down. Her sword cut air. Naruto was nowhere to be found. Dust was now floating around her. She turned around, clutching the hilt of her sword more securely in her hands. "Show yourself, coward!"

"You're no lesser coward than me, Yumiko."

Her keen hearing caught his voice. She attacked its source with a thrust. The dust parted, and she saw Naruto holding the blade of her sword between his hands. There was blood flowing from the side of his mouth and from the wound in his heart where her sword had passed through. Yumiko began to gape and lose her composure. She caught herself and clamped her mouth shut. The Naruto she had impaled dematerialized into smoke. She actually sighed in relief.

"Show yourself! I'm not falling for any of this!" she demanded.

"I'm the wind. If you are trying to kill me half-heartedly, you will never win."

Yumiko frowned. So Naruto had turned himself invisible using his wind chakra. _He is trying to make me angry so that I'll lose my concentration. He's gotten mature from fighting those old crocks. I need to stay calm._ She inhaled a series of calming breaths. _I have to loosen myself._

"Don't freeze up on me!"

Yumiko felt the incoming attack. She swayed counterclockwise and swung her sword towards his probable location. She got nothing but air again. _Damn it! Where is he?_

A presence suddenly appeared beneath her, but she was too late to react. Naruto swung on his hands and swept Yumiko with a leg. While Yumiko was on air, Naruto sent a roundhouse kick to her ribs. She thought that she might hear her bones breaking. She clamped her jaws to catch the pain. But as she flew by, no pain came. Naruto had just pushed her with his foot. That realization made her angrier. She thrust her sword into the ground to cut her flight. She crouched down, right knee and left hand on the dry dirt, right hand wrapped tightly around the hilt of her sword, eyes smoldering like coals glaring up at Naruto.

She gritted her teeth. _He's looking down on me! How dare he?_

Naruto walked out of the cloud of dusts. "I was so happy when you told me that you were giving it a shot. I was so happy because that was the first time that the being which had been inside me ever since I was born, the being filled only with hate, had considered friendship. I thought it would last forever. Now, seeing you like this…"

Yumiko pushed herself up against her sword. "You're really good with words, do you know that? If what you are saying is true, then you've taken me for granted. You wouldn't have hurt me this way—you wouldn't have betrayed me if you had cared for me for real."

"I don't have any excuses for my mistake. I did it and it was the truth."

Yumiko smiled, coldly. "Then you should know already how I feel. There will be no more diplomatic agreement between us. If you want my power, defeat me."

"I will."

Yumiko's brows furrowed. She launched herself towards Naruto.

…

He wouldn't be able to use his Wind God Art: Wind Stealth Mode a second time because like his incomplete Rasenshuriken that he had used in fighting against Hidan and Kakuzu, it had an adverse effect on him, particularly to his skin. Even if he was only a manifestation of his soul in this world, he could still feel the pain. It rubbed on his concentration and could make him temporarily paralyzed. Yes, it was a perfect way of sneaking behind the enemy, but it had a massive side effect. And facing a master swordswoman would mean death if he forced it. Speaking of which, the pain the technique had brought was still there.

He thought that he could feign superiority by using the technique. That way he could gather a longer delay to talk to her. But she hadn't asked him any question except for his opinion about his being good with words. He did not realize he was good at it, anyhow, so even if he had wanted to answer, he might not have had the right words for a reply. Always, since he was a child, he had only known how to say his honest thoughts or his silly defenses when he was looked down upon, insulted, embarrassed, or scorned. He might not know about it, but he was one hell of an honest guy. He had the type of honesty on level with dumbness or drop-dead innocence. Was he good with words? Well, he was only used to expressing what he thought.

Yumiko became faster with her attacks, swinging her large sword with so much ease someone might think that the large sword was weightless. She moved with the grace of a dancer. Her slashes and thrusts were as accurate as the strokes of a master calligrapher painting deadly characters on space. She pushed back Naruto with each combination, pushing him back little by little to the edge of the plateau. Naruto could only defend using his own awkward brand of Taijutsu and kunai techniques.

Now Yumiko swirled twice, pushing Naruto a few meters away. She leaped with all her strength, made a fast whirlwind, and struck at Naruto, diagonally. Naruto knew that he could not block it with his kunai. Yumiko's offense was designed to break a brick wall or a catapult or cut a horse in two. His kunai would break if he tried to block the strike, and then his head would roll and that would be the end of him. Escaping was out of the question, too. The attack was coming too fast. He knew his maximum speed, and even though it was already on a sonic level, he was sure Yumiko's sword would catch his leg. There was no time to waste thinking further. He had only one solution left. He composed himself, formed a Rasengan on each of his palms, and clapped them together. The effect was enormous. Not only did it create an aerial explosion that pushed him away at supersonic speed, it also succeeded in giving Yumiko a shock. Yumiko braced herself for the impact, but she only received a friendly slap on her breasts. Naruto had made an air barrier between them so that most of the impact would be on him. He had not planned for his landing. That was the down side. He shot through the plateau's crown, straight through the adjacent plateau's trunk, straight through that trunk, and then into the earth behind it. He almost passed out as the pain, which was tremendously unbearable, deluged his nerves. He fought against the muscles around his eyes to prevent them from rolling back into his skull. His lungs heaved out and stayed that way for a time enough to make him think that he was dead. _My God…ouch._

"D-d-don't think that that will fool me!" Yumiko said, trying to act tough but failing. "I know you're not hurt. Stand up, you filth!"

Hearing her—not particularly her words, but the sound of her voice—his consciousness did a double take. Instead of backing away and hiding behind the intuitive part of his brain, it turned around and returned. _Was that concern I heard? No. Not yet._ _If I start to drown in delusions now, I will be dead before I defeat her._ He waited for a few minutes before he got up. He was grateful Yumiko did not make a move during that duration. Spitting blood out of his mouth, he straightened and looked up at the damaged stage where he had been earlier. Yumiko was looking down at him from there with her cold eyes. Looking carefully through the hole his crash had created, he could see that nothing had changed. In his opinion, Yumiko was still as angry as she'd been.

He tried to move, but in his astonishment, his legs did not obey. They both stayed rooted in place. He looked down at them and saw them shivering. Now he realized what was happening. He should have realized it sooner. The Wind Stealth Mode was a technique that utilized every chakra channels in the body. The channels would not be ready for another ninjutsu for at least one minute. He had used a double Rasengan before his channels could recover completely. Now he was suffering the after-effect of overloading his channels. The channels had ceased responding to his will. They would remain that way until their recovery was completed. His locomotive consciousness would only be able to rely on raw muscle strength right now. Naruto grunted. Without his chakra's help, he had no way to defend himself. _Tch. Just in time to screw me up._

Yumiko had already leaped off from the plateau and was now in rush towards him for another attack. Naruto pulled two kunai from his pockets. The kunai were heavier. It was as if they had suddenly doubled their mass. He crossed his arms in front of him, gripping the kunai handles securely in both hands. Yumiko sprinted forward. Again, she was dragging her sword along the ground.

They clashed. He hid the fact of his situation by blocking every slash Yumiko threw at him, vigorously. He endured the sharp vibrations Yumiko's large sword sent to his arms through his kunai. His speed had decreased considerably and his sluggish turns and shifts showed it. But he went on, sometimes even making a feeble attack—a farmer fighting a general. Finally, Yumiko succeeded in hitting off the kunai in his right hand. It spun repeatedly on air before spearing down into the ground. Naruto did not lose spirit and used the opportunity to move forward. Yumiko parried his attempt with a backhand slap. She grabbed hold of his arm, pulled, poised her sword towards his heart, and thrust. Her sword went through him, drawing out a shower of blood on her face. Amidst all this, Yumiko grinned. She pulled her sword free and whipped it once to get rid of the blood clinging on its blade.

"Are you satisfied now?" she asked in an unnaturally loud voice. "What more do you need as proof that I'm prepared to kill you?" Now she looked around as if searching for something. "This stunt will not fool me a second time. Show yourself."

Naruto smiled. So she was thinking that he was a clone. Even without the cover of dust, he could easily be mistaken as a clone because the chakra flowing in him was in all-time low. He could not blame her.

"Yumiko," he said.

It was a long time before Yumiko turned to him. When she did, her eyes were filled with disbelief. She forced a smile. "You're really trying to make me crazy with anger, do you know that?"

_I'm so pathetic. I screwed up._

Yumiko raised her sword over Naruto's head. "Don't try to fool me with this puppet! Show yourself, you filth!" She looked around, hoping that somehow she would sense Naruto's presence somewhere. Naruto continued to bleed in front of her. The pool had already reached her sandals. "Naruto!" Her voice echoed back to her. Realization showed on her face and her eyes widened. The Naruto in front of her was the _real_ Naruto. For a long while, she just stared down at the bleeding shinobi, her sword trembling in her hand. Then, as sudden as the flash of a distant lightning, an insane darkness entered her eyes. "Why, there's no time to waste!" She slashed her sword down.

Naruto looked up, an expression of acceptance on his face. Three simple words came out his mouth. "I trust you."

But it was too late.

…

The three words echoed inside her head, taking her back to her past. Now she could see images of her past life: her beautiful father, her brave mother, _that _despicable man, her town, her battles…

…

Her mother Inubuki Mameha was the only daughter of a landlord. She was known for her beauty. By only using her as leverage, Inubuki Izanagi could trick wealthy people into selling their lands to him. This was how the Inubuki clan rose from obscurity. They became very powerful in less than five years that the government of their country allowed them to build their own army. The Inubuki clan continued to prosper until her father did not need Mameha to play as his muse anymore.

Izanagi became overprotective of Mameha because of his own deeds. Men from different parts of the country, those from families that he had done transactions with, had come for her daughter to ask for her hand. He always told them the same story: that she had been taken by the Shogun. Filled with bitterness, these men would puke insults over him. Some even threatened war. But at the end, Izanagi was the last man to smile. In every meeting, he made it his rule to say the line, "Your sentiments will certainly reach the Shogun," and that would splash vinegar on his visitors' faces. Without further ado, the men who had been so eager to vent their resentment would stand up and walk out of his sight.

Six months later, Izanagi had an unexpected visitor—a samurai under the current Shogun. The samurai told him that he had caught wind of what Izanagi had been telling _people._ On their time, slander against the Shogun was considered high treason and was punishable by decapitation. Izanagi was terrified. He had no excuse for this. He knew that those "people" would testify against him.

"Show me your daughter," the samurai demanded. "If my eyes don't accept her, I'll kill you on the spot."

Trembling all over, Izanagi had no choice but to fetch her daughter upstairs. Mameha was thrilled with the idea of meeting a samurai because it would be her first time. She was sixteen and she knew she was beautiful. It would be a great source of pride if a samurai fell in love with her at first sight. Her ambition was to be renowned around the world for her unparalleled beauty. Izanagi apologized to her in advance and began to recount what he had been doing for the past few months. Mameha stopped him at mid-sentence, telling him with a smile that she had known for a long time. An excited Mameha and a distressed Izanagi clambered down the stairs to meet the samurai.

The samurai stared at the beautiful Mameha for a long time, not saying anything. His sharp, upturned eyes did not betray any emotion. In time, the corner of Mameha's mouth shivered in discomfort. Finally, the samurai spoke.

"Prepare yourself, Inubuki-dono," the samurai said. "I'll send for you in the morning."

The samurai stood up, bowed politely, and left without another word. Mameha gaped at her father in amazement while Izanagi bored the tatami mat with eyes full of regret and despair.

The next morning, the samurai brought a platoon of soldiers and an elegant carriage to pick her up. Mameha was more than prepared for the trip, bringing with her almost all of her belongings including her two maids. Izanagi did not see her off, hiding inside his office, savoring on his last act of defiance. Until his death, he mourned Mameha's departure everyday.

It was two days before Mameha met the Shogun.

Mameha knew some rumors about the Shogun. He was known as the youngest Shogun in history, a strategic genius, and a charismatic leader. Mameha did not have to listen to rumors anyway to confirm that. The country was considered economically superior than others and the life was too cheap no beggars or homeless or hungry people could be found anywhere. The streets were clean; tourists teemed all season even in winters; no political scandals were ever reported; soldiers were friendly but disciplined; citizens were law-abiding. For eleven years under his rule, the country had experienced unprecedented peace and prosperity.

The Shogun returned with his team after visiting a nearby province where a series of water wells were being constructed. The samurai immediately reported to him the status of the capital city. The Shogun listened attentively as he sipped his miso soup.

"Very good," the Shogun said.

The samurai waited for the right moment to go onto his next subject. "Otomo-dono," he began. "There's someone I want you to meet."

The Shogun slowly rolled his eyes towards his samurai. "Someone" meant that this man, his childhood friend, had taken the initiative again. "I told you that I was not looking for a bride."

"Yes, My Lord—"

"Otomo. Call me Otomo, Yarui-san, when we are alone."

The samurai—Yarui—sighed loudly and left his formal sitting position for a casual cross-legged one. He then began to tell about Izanagi and his daughter and the rumors circulating around the nearby villages. Once he finished, the Shogun laughed heartily, tears spilling from his eyes. He commented that it was really funny. When Yarui suggested that Izanagi be punished by decapitation, the Shogun told him to leave the landlord alone. Yarui hated this easy-going attitude of his master, but it was one of the factors their country was now teeming with blessings. He let it go. The Shogun spoke, telling Yarui that he was already sleepy and promised to meet with Mameha tomorrow. Yarui bowed in gratitude, stood up, and placed a hand on the Shogun's head. He knew that his friend liked the gesture. Even now that he was already a Shogun, Otomo still treated him—even though mostly in private—as his big brother.

Captivated was so weak a word to describe how Mameha felt the first time she laid eyes on the Shogun. The Shogun was a tall man with long, black hair, broad shoulders, and a beautiful face. Many times before, especially in gatherings where he had worn a kimono, almost everyone had mistaken him for a woman. And not just some ordinary woman, but a woman of extraordinary beauty. Mameha could not look away. Her eyes were riveted on him. She thought that the Shogun was more beautiful than her.

Mameha almost forgot her manners. She bowed her head. "I apologize for my rudeness. I'm Mameha of the Inubuki Clan, My Lord."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance."

It was the longest utterance the Shogun had replied to an introduction. Usually, he would just bow his head. Yarui was pleased. It only meant that the Shogun had taken an interest in Mameha. He knew that he was right in bringing her with him. When he met her at her mansion three days ago, he had felt something about the beautiful girl. He knew that Mameha would stir something inside his Shogun, something other women had failed to wake up.

And it did not take long before the Shogun finally proposed marriage to Mameha.

The wedding was a celebration of the country. It was attended by powerful clans and famous military figures. But what drew gasps and gapes was the presence of Emperor Tsuyoshi, Otomo's grandfather. The old man with a pleasant face and a fluff of clouds as hair gave the couple a large sculpture of dragon and tiger made from pure gold. He blessed them with sincerity: "May happiness and peace be with you eternally."

Otomo and Mameha bowed in respect. They said at the same time, "We are humbled and blessed with your words, Tennoo-heika."

Fireworks concluded the night, illumining smiling faces and contented auras. But the happiest were Otomo and Mameha, who kissed under the glow of the Royal Blaze that bloomed last in the sky.

After a year, Mameha gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. When the Holy Maiden Sora beheld the child, she said, "A treasure. The most beautiful child I've ever laid my eyes upon—a treat to my aging eyes. She will grow up the object of envy and fascination." The wrinkled lady looked up from the sleeping baby and pierced Mameha with her eyes. She smiled and Mameha tried hard not to show worry. "I see that you are somewhat afraid, but it's inevitable. People with gifts are both loved and hated. Raise her well, Your Highness, so that she will be honorable and kind." Sora looked down at the baby again. "She's really beautiful. Your Highness, could I have the honor of naming this child?"

"Oh, Your Holiness, for you to ask me that, it's more of the opposite. It will be my pleasure," Mameha said.

"Well, then, I'm happy. A baby blessed with beautiful parents is bound to be beautiful herself. Let's call her_ Yumiko_ so she will never forget that she owes you her beauty."

Mameha and Otomo cared for Yumiko as no parents had ever cared for their child before. Yumiko grew up in praises and unconditional love. But not only inside the castle did she receive such care. The villagers were kind to her, respected her as much as they could. When Yumiko went out for a walk, she would return with her bodyguards burdened with baskets of fruits and vegetables, honey, home-made sake, and sometimes adorable animals or caged birds.

Twelve years passed peacefully. Yumiko had experienced the villagers' love for her and her parents. All her life she had not even once felt discontented. She had had an ideal life. This peacefulness shrouded her in security that, even as obvious as it could be, she failed to notice a creeping darkness slowly closing in on them. Yumiko only saw people in their deceptive image. She was ignorant of the shadow living in each and everyone. She would remain ignorant to these truths until someone introduced her to their meaning. Four months after her twelfth birthday, an unexpected event happened.

_To be continued…_


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 47: The Crimson Queen

Yumiko grunted as she pulled the strip she had torn from her robe to tighten it over Naruto's wound. "Anata! Anata, wake up!" Naruto still lay unconscious on the ground. The bleeding subsided a little but was still going, soaking Naruto's naked upper body.

Yumiko was losing her composure fast. Her sword was not in her hands anymore, and without it, she felt vulnerable. It lay like a bloody corpse a few meters where she had hauled it away. She resented it now. The weapon she had wielded to conquer countries and kill, her partner, became too evil for her to even behold.

"Naruto! Naruto, please!" She did not have any knowledge in healing, but even if she did, she would not be able to heal Naruto in this place. With her chakra, she would have had no difficulties healing his injuries, as long as they were physical, may it be internal or external. Cell regeneration was nothing to her. But Naruto had come as a manifestation of his soul. Not like in Hensen no Kuusho where conditions had been controlled and only a _part_ of his existence had been extracted from his whole, this Naruto was made up of his core being. You kill him here, you really kill him. It is how nightmares kill. You die in your dream, you die in reality. Yumiko knew that. How she wished that she was fighting him in Hensen no Kuusho where she could die and she could kill him until she was satisfied. But not here. Not in this morbid place. Amidst the profusely flowing tears and blood, she wailed, "Naruto!"

Yumiko embraced Naruto's head. "I'm sorry. I was just afraid. I was afraid that I'd lose you. You see, I'd never felt like a human being ever since my parents died. Everyone around me was the same. They were all filth. When I met you, I regained a little of my humanity. From there on, I became more and more human. Then, after watching how you lived your life, I learned how to love again. Naruto, I'm sorry. Please don't die on me. Please…"

…

A great drought took place in the continent. Every country was affected by it. Yumiko was eleven when it came. The people waited for rain to come, but after one year, the sky remained spotless and endlessly blue.

"Yumiko, happy birthday," Otomo said. He got something from his kimono, a fur pouch. He handed it over to her with a touch of trepidation. This was the first time her father would be giving her a small gift.

Yumiko accepted the pouch and immediately opened it. It contained a beautiful jade and ebony brooch. Her eyes sparkled. It was small but indisputably beautiful. "My, Chichi-ue, it's so pretty."

Otomo smiled and his troubled face lit up. The lack of food had already taken its toll on her father and he had grown skinny, but his handsome face hadn't diminished in charm. "I'm glad to hear that."

Yumiko raised the brooch up to his father. "Chichi-ue, please, could you put this on my hair?"

"It will be my honor, Yumiko-sama." He got the brooch from her.

Yumiko giggled and turned her back on his father. Otomo began combing her hair in preparation, and it felt good. Even though a warrior, her father had the grace of a woman when doing girly things. Only her mother could match him in it, as far as she knew.

"I'm sorry you had to go through with this, Yumiko," her father said in a hushed voice.

Yumiko bowed her head slightly, as if some invisible weight was placed on it. "Father, it can't be helped. It's occurring everywhere. Things like this happen every now and then, right?"

She heard her father sipped in air through his teeth. "You're a bright girl."

Yumiko fiddled the hem of her clothes. "Don't blame yourself for anything, Chichi-ue. It's not your fault that this drought is on us."

Her father suppressed a sob. She wanted to comfort him, but she knew that she would embarrass him more. She crushed the longing in her heart and looked out the porch. The grass had dried up and only a little water remained in the pond. The leaves of the trees and the trees themselves looked wrinkled hags. The sound of the paper door sliding brought her back inside the room.

"Oh, am I bothering you two?" Mameha said. Like her father, her mother had lost weight. But like her father, she still looked lovely.

"Haha-ue!"

Mameha smiled and approached the two. "I cooked some rice cake for you, Yumiko. Happy birthday."

Yumiko's eyes brimmed with tears. "Oh, Haha-ue, you didn't have to."

Otomo looked at his wife, mildly reproachful. "Mameha…"

Mameha flashed her easy smile and sat beside her husband. She put a hand on his knee. "Since the drought, I've been stowing a spoonful of sticky rice in the clay jar. I'm only spending what I've earned. This is a special day so there's nothing wrong on treating ourselves to some sweets." She regarded the glistening brooch on Yumiko's head. "And where did you get the money to buy our daughter such an expensive gift?"

Otomo looked away. "Someone gave it to me, you know—"

"I know you are lying."

Otomo stiffened as if someone stuck a needle at the base of his nape. "E-eto…"

"Anata? You don't want me to be angry, right?"

"Oh, all right," Otomo said, throwing his arms in air. "I give up. I traded my wakizashi for it." Both girls looked at him in disbelief. He panicked. "You see, I was walking along the market area when I saw the brooch. I just couldn't leave it alone. I mean I got this feeling that I really had to buy it because…" he pecked a glance at Yumiko, "…you know, I was sure Yumiko would like it." He blushed.

"That wakizashi was your father's heirloom! How dare you trade it with a brooch?"

Otomo looked down. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to make Yumiko happy."

There was silence, and when Yumiko looked up at her mother, she saw tears in her eyes. She, too, had been suppressing her emotion because she thought that her mother was genuinely mad. But now that she knew what was what, she let her tears fall. "Chichi-ue…"

At the same time, mother and child gave the Shogun the warmest hug and the sweetest kiss they could give him.

"These are hard times, but you can still be selfless like this," Mameha said.

Yumiko held her father's hands. "I promise you that I'll take care of your gift. I love you, Chichi-ue."

They ate after the sweet atmosphere faded away, and during those minutes their smiles did not leave their faces.

…

The heat of the sun did not let up. The monks and the maidens had already tried giving sacrifices to their deities to appease their so-called "Wrath of the Gods." Some clan heads had already performed rituals to call up rain on high and dangerous mountains. The alchemists had already attempted to make rain by their crystal bombs. But all of them had failed. Hearing about these failures and the worsening situation of his people, Otomo was forced to make drastic moves.

Otomo sat immobile at the head of the hall. His generals sat across each other in two rows in front of him. Their faces were grim after hearing his declaration.

"The fields need more farmers. There are wells yet to be dug and caves to be explored," he looked up. "This is not the time to have soldiers. This is the time for the whole country to work against the drought."

The generals voiced out their protests, telling him that he as the Shogun was more important than the country, that he as the Shogun was a fragment of the Emperor's divinity, and that he as the Shogun was not to have one lacking general in his rank. But he remained firm. He apologized for the sudden announcement of their dismissal and reasoned that he was just concerned about each family under his leadership. "I will never forgive myself if something happens to your families because I'm keeping you with me. Right at this moment, they are the most important." Before somebody could stand up and lecture him about loyalty and samurai duties and responsibility, Otomo excused himself and left the room. He had no idea that this particular decision was a grave mistake.

Four months passed. The castle that had always been filled with armored men and scurrying maids and laborers was now almost deserted. Only a few—close to a hundred—had stayed to continue their service. These people had threatened the Shogun with their lives, and even if the Shogun had tried everything to tell them he was angry with their decision, he had failed to dissuade them. "Do what you want," he had told them, dejectedly, but behind their backs he had smiled in relief. They were the ones who had lived all their lives serving the Shogun family and had ancestors who had served Otomo's clan even before the establishment of the Shogunate Government in the continent. But even with their zeal and loyalty, the castle had never been the same again. Dried leaves were strewn around and were made playthings by the wind. The roof needed new slates and the wall was flaky and chipping away at some parts. The paper doors had to be repapered, the floor scrubbed with wax. There were so many repairs to be done to revive the previous elegance of the palace, but they had never got around on doing as much as a single one. Upon waking up, they promptly went to the fields to till the land and plant. Some went to the mountains to gather fruits that by the day dwindled in numbers. Some even went to hunt down snakes and rats, for the fishes and the game had been long gone to look for colder waters and greener pasture. They were living in hard times, eating only twice a day—if there was something to eat—but usually only once, in the mornings. Otomo, knowing that appearances were currently unimportant, even forbid them to mind tasks that did not directly affect their survival.

Yumiko had lost the joy she used to have when their life had been great, but remained adamant against the pressure of hunger and heat. In front of people, she smiled. She was not that naïve to assume they would not notice that she was only faking it, but she would reason to herself immediately that at least she was trying to show her spirit.

"I haven't done my walking in months," she said aloud as she brushed her dry hair. She had grown gaunt and her rosy complexion had fled somewhere since the food shortage struck. "I must see what has become of the capital city."

She did not wallow in her hesitation of going out without a single bodyguard. She got up, dressed her best—a cotton maiden robe since all her kimonos were already gone, sold—and went to ask permission from her parents. Otomo and Mameha exchanged worried glances.

"Chichi-ue, I promise to get back before dusk. Besides, I can take care of myself," she said. "I'll bring with me my daishoo."

"Even still…" Otomo trailed off. "Where is Yarui?" He looked up at Mameha, seeking assistance, but his wife only smiled.

"Even in these harsh days, we haven't had any crime, my love. Let us allow beautiful Yumiko to get some fresh air," Mameha said.

Knowing that he could not win against Mameha's gentleness, Otomo could only sigh. "All right, but not too far. Promise us."

"Just around the market, I promise."

The market was desolate. The streets which had been then a place where peddlers, vendors, and customers gathered were now a collection of arid ground, overturned jars, and empty benches. Where had the people gone to? She tried a house, but no one heard her calls. She tried two more and got the same result. Now tired of the empty echoes of her voice, she entered one residence. The place was quiet as a graveyard. "Hello? Someone?" No answer. She found it strange. No one had told her about an exodus. Had her father kept this from her? Her father would never keep anything like this from her. He had trusted them, her, her mother, and Yarui, with his decisions and plans. He had never censored information regarding the country, be it something as disgusting as incest or as gory as a massacre. It would've been too late for him to change so suddenly, and he had no right to keep his family in the dark, especially at dire times like this. No. Her father did not know about this himself. This was something important. He would not keep something important like this from her.

"Someone? If someone's there, will you please answer?" She still got nothing. She spotted the stairs and climbed up. There were two rooms on the second floor facing each other. The one on the left side was open. "Hello?" As she peered inside the room, she found a child embracing his knees. He was crying. Immediately, Yumiko went to him and asked if everything was all right. The boy ignored her. "Hey, don't you recognize me? Hmmm, maybe not. But even so, I haven't become too thin for recognition, right? It's Yumiko."

The boy raised his head and glared at her. The fury in his eyes almost made her shriek. Years later, she would have those eyes, too. "Go away!" the boy said. "Get away from me!"

Yumiko gulped. "I'm just asking. Why are you so angry?" The boy suddenly got up and pushed Yumiko. Yumiko fell on her buttocks, staring at the boy, confused. But that confusion left her immediately. Her mind whirled and bared fangs. "What's wrong with you?"

The boy pointed a contemptuous finger at her. "You people killed my brother!"

"What?"

The boy was frustrated with her, that she could tell easily. This boy was not what he appeared to be. This boy was only a case, a disguise for a person who had experienced the world more than a threefold. "You and your family are cursed. You brought this upon us."

Her eyes glistened in anger. "You don't have the right to say that! My father has served this country all his life. What is happening is nature's retribution! No one has control over it, even the Shogun!"

The boy shook his head, not convinced. "No. Tatara-sama is right about your mother being a witch. She has made the Shogun a blasphemer and the heaven hated it. That's why we are experiencing this drought."

Yumiko could not control herself anymore and she would never regret what she was about to do. She slapped the boy across the face, throwing him off to a corner. "Never ever insult _my_ mother!"

The boy glowered at her from the corner of his eyes. "You are a witch yourself. Get out of _our_ house!"

Yumiko did not hear all the boy's words for she had already started climbing down the stairs. Hot tears flowed down her cheeks. She angrily swiped at them. When she was outside, she realized that she did not want to see anymore. She lost her appetite to wander further. All she wanted right now was to go back to the castle. Her thoughts still in turmoil, she did not notice that she was already lifting a stool. She only realized it when the stool was already flying away from her hands. The stool crashed into a window, shattering the bamboo frames in it. It thonked and thudded on the floor. She was expecting that someone would come out with a katana in hand after that, but no one did.

"Go destroy the whole village! That's what you are good at, anyway," the boy yelled from the window. "Tatara-sama will punish you! He will punish you and your family!"

Yumiko got another stool and threw it towards the boy. "Say one more word and I will cut your tongue!" She waited for a few minutes for a retort, but she only heard snivels. Not that she cared. She was really going to cut the boy's tongue—maybe even his head—if he as far as said "Boo!"

As she walked back to the castle, she thought about the encounter. She hadn't expected that she was capable of such anger. Really, if that boy had braved retorting back, she would have cut his tongue. She was that angry. But why had the boy said those things? Why had he called her mother a witch? And who was this Tatara-sama he had pertained to? When she passed by a dried tree along the river, she suddenly felt the need to empty herself of anger. She slid down the sloping bank to get in front of the tree. The tree towered over her, but if it had eyes to see, it would have run away already from Yumiko's glare. It was almost the same with the boy's glare, sharp and poisonous. Yumiko drew her daishoo, a long, custom-made katana and a wakizashi her grandfather Izanagi had given her for her mamori-gatana seven years ago. It should have been just a wooden sword but Izanagi had insisted on the daishoo for, as Izanagi worded it, "Yumiko will not wait thirteen years before she becomes a fully fledged samurai." Now Yumiko held her daishoo, sizing her immobile foe. Then, when the "flash" occurred to her, she attacked. She was not that strong yet to cut through the trunk of the tree, but she succeeded in leaving an ugly scar on its bark. With a flourish, she sheathed her daishoo and exhaled. When she returned on the road, she was calm.

She stood in front of her father, deciding if she should tell him about her discovery or not. His father patiently waited not with curiosity but with relief—he had been that worried. Finally she said, "Chichi-ue, I'm upset. And you know why. The city…Anyway, I want to sleep. Don't bother me. Please."

Otomo smiled. He embraced her and planted a kiss on her forehead. She had no idea that it was the last time she would see him smile. "Good night, then, Yumiko. I love you."

When she was upset, she went only to one place. Only her parents and Yarui knew of the place. It was a basement room beneath her room. Otomo had especially constructed it as a precaution at times of enemy attack, but she had made it her sanctuary when her mother scolded her or her father refused to grant her a favor. She turned to the room when she needed no friend but cold walls and darkness, when she needed to be alone. And now she wanted to be by herself. She lifted the trap door and went down the five steps of wooden stairs sloping before her, the thought of the rude boy picking her brain as she climbed down. She let the door close above her. The darkness came and, like a lover, she embraced it.

The first thing that came to her senses while she slept was the sound of muffled voices. It was coming from the next room—no, it was coming from everywhere: from the courtyard, the garden, the hall, the corridors…What was happening? She opened her eyes, dismissing the sounds as pre-consciousness illusions, some kind of residues of a dream. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and asked herself again, "What is happening?"

She heard the crash as she was going up the stairs. She stopped before the tip of her fingers touched the trap door. What was that? Slowly, she went back down and crawled into a passageway to her right. As designed, every underground room was connected to each other by a passageway. She was crawling towards the hall at the moment.

_What is happening?_ Her face was tight in nervousness. Her palms were getting caked with dust because they were sweating so much. But the foul smell of fear mixed with the smell of cobwebs, dust, and unattended cobblestones and her dirty and wet palms did not deter her to go on. Something invisible was pushing her—or pulling her—to the place where she thought the crash had come from. It was stronger than the ever present voice of self-preservation in her head.

The voices became louder as she neared the hall, and she could make out some of the words now. The words were muffled but something caught her attention. A loud voice shouted a name: Tatara. The boy had shouted the same name this morning. This Tatara was telling people that her mother was a witch, her father a blasphemer, and she a witch's daughter. Her movements became faster when that short scene occurred to her. She was genuinely afraid now. She did not notice that her breath was surging out in short sets, that her throat was contracting in fear, and that her eyes were swimming in tears. She surged forward on her palms and knees, not thinking of anything but to get there.

The scene struck her like a thunderbolt. She could only see with one eye because the hole she was looking through was only enough for one eye. But the scene was clearer that anything she had ever seen that day, more complete than the darkness that wrapped her in her sanctuary. Her mother was being raped by four men, four ugly men. Three were grinning and drooling and laughing, hands and mouths busy on her mother's thin body, while the fourth was humping her with a disgustingly insane expression of ecstasy. Her mother cried and begged. Stop it, she said, please, she said, please have mercy, she said. A fat man in a priest's robe was chanting something, but Yumiko could not understand the words. Her mind was pre-occupied with what she saw.

Now she moved her bulging eyes around. She knew these cursed people and the revelation cast a red tone to her vision. _Takahashi-san, Sato-san, Suzuki-san, Mori-san, Akuzaku-san…_these were the very villagers that had once been her friends. They had been kind, respectful, and she had felt how they had adored her family. _I can't trust anymore…_One by one, those baleful grins, contemptuous glares, and triumphant smirks under the burning lamps planted a seed of hatred in her heart. _They were my people…my friends…_She flickered her eyes to the right and saw the child she had encountered in the morning. He was grinning, his face contorted with lines of malevolence and…was that glee? She could not react. It was as if a part of her brain had malfunctioned and she could just stare. Her instinctive reactions slipped away as fast as the arrival of a thought. So she just stared, like a dead deer's eyes she stared. The shock, the anger, and the confusion formed something black and toxic in her heart as the demons sated their desires on her mother. A part of her was still resisting the feeling, but it was not receiving any support. That black and toxic something grew and Yumiko's sanity cracked a hairline.

The priest stopped chanting and then grinned. "Now, now. I think the witch has had her share of cleansing. The devil will not think of coming here again. But her sin is not hers alone. And I am sad to tell you His Highness is already tainted."

Two men entered the room, dragging her father between them. The priest sneered and did a mock bow. "Your Highness."

"Tatara!" There was pure hate in his voice. "You filthy mongrel!" His eyes were two glowing orbs, spitting fire.

Tatara flinched, his fat belly bouncing twice. Then his face crumpled into an ugly scowl. "I am a holy man, Shogun. You don't have the right to insult me when you indulge in blasphemy!" Tatara came over and put a needle into the side of Otomo's neck. "In front of this people, I will cleanse you, in front of this people who have suffered because of your sin. Shogun, let me remind you that you committed a mortal sin against the heavens, and I'm the only one who can clean it."

Tatara leaned forward and whispered into Otomo's ear. Yumiko caught every word by reading the fat man's lips.

"I've been waiting a long time to do this, and this crowd makes it more thrilling. I've desired you for so long, Shogun."

The panic kicked Yumiko up and she began to recoil her arm to punch through the wall that was separating her and her parents. But a hand came up to her mouth and an arm came around her body, pulling her back. She struggled but she could not get out from the embrace of whoever it was. As she was being pulled away, she saw how Tatara held his penis at her father's slack mouth. She could as well go crazy from the sight. She screamed in the hands of the stranger and fainted.

Beside her, Naruto's transparent body stiffened. He closed his eyes and sobbed. When Yumiko had become one with him, he had gotten a glimpse of these events, but they had not been as clear as this. Yumiko's past had been like a faint childhood memory for him then. But now that he was personally experiencing it, he began hating himself for not paying close attention before. He indeed had taken her for granted.

…

The hand that had covered her mouth and the arm that had bound her turned out to be Yarui's. She had taken a quick glance at him and saw hate—no, it was wrath, not hate but wrath—in his face. Was she feeling the same? That was funny. She only felt calmness right now, a kind of cold sensation at the base of her throat. Yarui was a man of few words, and she was grateful for it. She did not want a word of comfort from anyone. They walked under the silver light of the moon that was reddish in her point of view. Three words kept recurring in her mind: betrayal, trust, and darkness.

She laughed and shook her head. "Funny…so this is what it feels like."

Yarui gripped his sword and shuddered.

Two days later, when Yarui had left her alone in the small shack for some business, she decided to go back to the village. She wanted to retrieve her parents' bodies. She knew that they were already dead. She just hoped that those filths hadn't burned them. Walking through the forest, she indulged in watching in her head the scene that had happened two nights ago. But not like she had been that night, she did not sense any emotion boiling under her skin. She watched as a kid watches a line of ants crawling to and fro an anthill. When the fat man Tatara came on with that grinning visage, she grinned. "I'll do you specially. Just wait for me. Wait for me."

It was of the same intensity as the scene on that gruesome night. It should have pulled her to the ground if she was still the normal sweet girl she had been. Her father and mother were sprawled like scarecrows, bound on two thick branches in the center of the plaza. The filths had defiled their bodies. The two corpses stared through their empty eye sockets, the eyes already plucked out by crows and vultures. Large holes gaped in the abdomens of her parents' bodies and only tattered remnants of their innards remained. Looking around, she saw dried blood and bloody paw prints. Yeah. Dogs and cats and rats. They had had a feast. She stared up back at them, asking herself why she couldn't mourn for them. Their spirits, she knew, would be wandering about, seeking vengeance, but here she was without any feeling of grief and lose. Had she become a bad girl? She laughed, bitterly. The black and toxic something had grown bigger over the last two days.

"Y-Yumiko-sama…" a soft voice came from behind her. When she turned, there was a farmer prostrating in front of her. She looked down at him with her cold eyes. "I'm sorry I couldn't help. I and my family were so afraid. We could not bring ourselves to fight for you. I'm so sorry. I…" He broke into sobs.

"Oto-san?" a young girl's voice came from a corner. She was about six years old, and like everyone in town, scrawny as a stork.

"I was just trying to protect my child. I will accept any punishment."

"Oto-san?" The young girl approached them, warily. She glared up at Yumiko. "Isn't she the witch's daughter?"

"Bunko! Don't insult the princess! I'm sorry, Yumiko-sama. She doesn't know what she's saying. Please forgive her."

Insult. Did this man know that his cowardice was worse than an insult? "You, do you know what you're doing?"

The man raised his face, confused. "Yumiko-sama?"

The expression of sincere ignorance on the man's face lit the fuse of the first emotion she had felt since she fainted two days ago. It was _wrath._ She drew her sword and re-sheathed it so fast she herself wasn't sure if she had drawn it. Silence came.

"Oto-san?" The man kept on staring up at Yumiko. "Oto-san?" Now the child's voice had a tinge of concern in it. "Oto-san, wake up!" The child shook her father's shoulder, and it was then that his father's head split across. The top part of his head fell with a dull sound on the dry soil. Blood spurt from the remaining lower half, bathing the little girl with crimson. "O-Oto-san?" The child looked like Yumiko when she had been watching in secret her villager's brutality. "Oto-san?"

"This is an unfair world, child, but fortunately I'm not that evil." Again, Yumiko drew her sword. The child fell on her father, headless.

Yumiko sheathed her sword and began walking. _Chichi-ue, Haha-ue, these are two loyal servants who want to atone for their crime. You can devour them in the afterlife._ She laughed and laughed and laughed as she left the village that she would be destroying years later. That day Yumiko ceased being human.

Yumiko grew up to be a very beautiful lady even though she did not notice it. At the age of sixteen, she became the talk of the town and people named her the "Bladed Rose." After the incident in her town, Yarui's family had adopted her and she had only one activity every day. It was polishing her techniques. Yarui could no longer defeat her in a serious fight, and no one could defeat Yarui except her.

She hadn't had a good life in the Amagami Estate. After her breasts grew and her hips widened, even married men could not help but look. Women, married or not, became hateful of her, and they did nasty things to make her suffer. Once, a middle-aged woman put a pinch of glass shards in her onigiri. When she bit it, the shards wounded her mouth. The middle-aged woman watched her, keenly, almost rudely as she ate. Yumiko knew that the woman wanted her to show some weakness. So she chewed as if nothing was there. The woman glowered in resentment and left. For eight days, Yumiko suffered at the latrine and at the dining table, but the black and toxic something in her heart had grown too big now that paying attention to trivial things like these was almost stupid. Men were the same. A day when she was out so late, she confirmed how the men in the manor thought of her. Her room was on the second floor and she had to walk along the men's quarters to get there. As she was quietly pacing the corridor, she heard men's voices coming from the quarters. They were moaning and calling her name. She knew what they were doing even if she did not see the shadow hunkered before a lamp, doing a familiar hand motion. That was okay. They would have their time. She climbed up to her room and honed her daishoo.

_Everyone is filth. Just wait. Wait for me._

But she did not have to wait for too long.

Four weeks later, Amagami Keiichi, the daimyo, called for her to his room. The old man sat cross-legged at the head of the room, a sword in his lap.

"Amagami-dono," she said, bowing.

"Come here, Yumiko."

She was very familiar with the sword. She frowned at it.

"Yarui wants you to have this."

Her emotionless eyes rolled up to Keiichi's face. "What happened to Yarui-san?"

"He committed seppuku. He said that he could not carry the burden of your parents' death anymore."

Yumiko just stared at the old man.

"He wanted you to continue on with his school of swordsmanship."

"I understand." Yumiko saw a flicker of disappointment in the old man's eyes. Was he waiting for her to cry? She raised her hands palms up to receive the sword.

Keiichi did not let go of the sword yet. "He also left a request for you."

Yumiko squinted at this. Yarui had _never_ asked for a favor before. He would never do it even at the moment of his death. She knew Yarui since she was a child. "A request?"

"Yes."

"Tell me."

Keiichi held back for a few moments, but Yumiko could see the anticipation on his face. She thought she already knew where this was going. "Actually, I was surprised that he would ask you a favor like this." He paused, dramatically. "He wanted you to give me a child. Those were the last words he said."

With her previous personality, she would have been horrified, but with the black and toxic something now fully grown in her heart, she could only smile. "A child?"

The sheen of confidence came on in Keiichi's eyes. "Yes. I need an heir, but all the women I bedded with did not produce any. I'm getting older everyday. I need some security for what I will leave when I die."

He was only saying it. She could see how he slurred his words because of his drooling mouth. It amused her. How could he even talk straight in front of a young woman with an angry erection inside his robes? She flashed her most seductive smile. Keiichi's eyes widened and his hands, which were gripping the sword in his lap, trembled. He licked his lips, blanching in anticipation.

"It will be my honor, My Lord," Yumiko said. She reached out and held the old man's wrinkled hand. Using her index finger, she rubbed the knots on his thumb. "But I have a condition."

"A-anything! Anything! I will give anything to you!"

Yumiko leaned over and made sure that he smelled her breath when she spoke. "You can use me anytime and anyway you want, but promise me one thing."

"Tell me! Tell me!"

Yumiko could see that the old man was about to burst in so much lust. "Give me all of your possessions when you die."

"Is that all? I will give you everything I have!"

That was what all men were. For a smile from her, they would eat a cow's dung. Right now, with only a few seductive gestures and words, a dignified and honorable man was dancing on the palm of her hand. "Give me the symbol of inheritance, and right now…" Yumiko pulled the belt around her waist. Her robe parted, showing her white midriff. "…I'll give myself to you."

Keiichi gaped. "Yes! Yes!" He stood up and ran to his bed. He opened a secret vault in the wall and got a red box from it. He took it to Yumiko. "Here! I'll give it to you!"

Yumiko acted coy, pouting a little. "But it will not be enough. They will need proof. A written proof will do."

Keiichi put the box beside Yarui's sword and got a pre-written last will and testament from under the futon of his bed. He took it in front of Yumiko and made a show of signing it with his blood. On the blank provided for the name of his heir, he wrote Yumiko's complete name. Everything and every kind of what I possess….everything and every kind.

"Here, read it if you want!" Keiichi said, panting.

Yumiko only had to read it once. No manner of death was stated in the will. It just said…_on the moment of my death, I bestow everything and every kind of what I possess to…_then her name. She rolled it and put it beside her. She looked up at Keiichi, and then spread her hands. "I surrender myself to you, Master." She smiled, but this time the smile contained the black and toxic something's malice.

Keiichi yapped like a hyena. With one motion, he got out of his clothes and pounced at Yumiko. However, before even his breath reached Yumiko's skin, he was already dead. The sound of the hilt hitting the edge of the scabbard as the sword slid back into it and the thud of the decapitated head of the perverted old man hitting the floor reached Yumiko's ear drums at the same time.

The second member of the Amagami Manor that died that same day was Keiichi's secretary, Katsuro. The third was the middle-aged woman that had fed her with a glass-shavings onigiri. Then the resistance came and she stopped counting. After five hours, she killed six-thousand-four-hundred and forty-four people, including four-hundred-sixty-six children, one-hundred-sixteen septuagenarians, and twenty octogenarians. She did not like it a bit, but she did not dislike it as well. All she knew was that she felt calm. The incident was known as the Amagami Massacre.

After what she did, she made an announcement. Still cloaked in blood, she stood up in front of the villagers and raised the emerald medallion in the sun. It gleamed verdantly, a mocking contrast to the crimson on her clothes, hair, and skin. "I am now the new daimyo." People stared in awe, but she had the emerald medallion that only the Emperor could give. They could not disobey.

In only two years, Yumiko rebuilt the Amagami Manor, created a formidable army, and expanded her territory two folds. In another three years, she succeeded in conquering four other countries. People who lived to tell the tale only said one thing about her: that she was terribly brutal. She did not discriminate, be it a child, a woman, or an elderly; if you did not promise loyalty, she would kill you. She was especially horrible when it came to priests. Not once, in anyone's reckoning, had Yumiko spared a priest. She would order her soldiers to bind the priests _alive_ on stakes and eviscerated with a dull knife. Sometimes, they said, Yumiko would watch as dogs and cats and rats, and crows and vultures, had their way with her victims. She would not even flinch at shrieks.

The new Emperor did not last long in fighting against her. He was her uncle, but the fact that he had not done anything when the news about her father reached the capital city had officially stripped his chance to live after seeing her face. She did not say that she was Otomo's daughter. It had no use. Like the priests, she ordered for him to be bounded at a stake, be gutted alive, and be left for the animals to eat. On the very day when the former Emperor wailed his last breath, Yumiko became Empress.

The day of the reckoning came. Yumiko had only one country to conquer. It was her home country, her father's country. Except that she did not really want to conquer it, but to _destroy_ it. Her order, "Kill everyone. Not a single child shall be spared. No elderly shall be pardoned. Destroy the village by flames. Rape, loot, and kill all you want. But bring me a man named Tatara alive." Some soldiers, who had remaining principles in them, tried to dissuade Yumiko about her decision, but they were killed on the spot. She was only twenty one years old when this happened. It was called the Massacre of the Damned.

…

A soldier pushed the fat man on the floor. He was bruised and wounded, but healthy enough to be conscious. His hands were tied behind him. Yumiko sipped some smoke from her golden pipe.

"You've grown old," Yumiko said.

Tatara glowered at her. "Don't you know that I am a holy man? I'm a messenger of God! How dare you treat me like this?"

Yumiko spat at his face. "Well, now you're in front of the Demon, so mind your manners. Your life is in my hands."

Tatara cringed. "W-what do you want?"

"I want you to answer some questions. Depending on your answers, I may or may not kill you."

"A-anything! Please spare me my life!"

Yumiko remembered how Keiichi had said a related line to this with a motivation of lust. It made her cackle. "Okay. I'm happy that you're cooperative. First question: When you executed your coup d'état nine years ago, how did you manage to gather support?"

"I-I-I used the drought! I told the people that the wife of the Shogun had come from a family of witches! I told them that the only way that the curse would be lifted was to cleanse and then sacrifice their bodies to the gods."

"Was the coup d'état really for lifting the drought?"

Tatara looked into her eyes, and when he saw that he would be caught if he lied, he told the truth. "I was envious of Mameha! I loved the Shogun since I was a kid, but he did not even look at me. He humiliated me many times, telling people that he did not believe in gods, and that the country did not need a lot of priests. I knew that the Shogun would not speak like that. Mameha made him a non-believer!"

"For that reason you brutally killed them?"

"It was not only I, I swear! The people were already planning something behind the Shogun's back. The men wanted Mameha. Some wanted her daughter for themselves. It could have happened even without me!"

Yumiko looked at a brush painting of a heron cleaning her wings.

"Please, don't kill me. Please." Tatara was sniveling now.

"You are a priest, right? Then tell me. I want the truth. Is friendship that brittle?"

"Yes. It is the nature of men to succumb to the urge to preserve one's self. When they are cornered, they will betray their friends…" Yumiko remembered the father who had apologized to her for not having the courage to fight for the Shogun and his family. "Everybody has one or two ulterior motives…" She remembered Amagami Keiichi with his flooded mouth and slurring words. "And everything is constantly changing. The friend you have today will always be a different person tomorrow."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

Yumiko smiled. "Then I should not trust." She clapped her hands and two soldiers immediately entered. "Put him up at the very center. I want people to see him when they pass by."

"Wait! Wait, please! I will do anything for you! Please don't kill me!"

Yumiko rolled her eyes to him. "Do you remember the Shogun's daughter?"

Tatara froze and stared at her in confusion. Then his eyes widened in realization. "It's not you! No, Yumiko is already dead! No…"

"I'm not. _You _are_._"

Tatara screamed as the soldiers dragged him outside.

…

Yumiko's hate for humans made her emotionless and distrustful. She did not give anyone a second chance. Her statutes were absolute and criminals were killed instantly if proven guilty. She became the youngest and the most ruthless tyrant in the continent. Other emperors and empresses respected her, but mostly it was because of fear. When she was twenty-four, she conquered two whole empires. Her name became renowned in the world. In skirmishes, when the enemy knew that she was in the front lines, they would retreat immediately or surrender. Her name was often enough to prevent sleep from coming. She was beautiful, yes, the most beautiful warrior in the world, as artists coined it, but her beauty did not help to quench the dreadful image she had. But to all these, she could only shrug. She had already proven that friendship was foolishness, only a waste of precious time. The strong shall inherit the earth, and the weak shall follow the strong or else they die. That was the only thing she believed in. When she surrendered her soul to the Sage of Six Paths as the binder for the Demon Fox, she had the whole continent under her control. She was known by different names by then: the Queen of Destruction, the Goddess of War, the Destroyer, the Female Death. But one moniker stuck in the minds of the majority. When she passed by, the world turned crimson. She was the Crimson Queen.

_To be continued…_

Author's note: The daishoo is a samurai's another pair of hands, as my sensei puts it. It includes the main weapon, a katana, and a shorter, support weapon that is often used in seppuku—if I'm not mistaken—called wakizashi. Mamori-gatana is a ceremony when a child of a samurai reaches his or her fifth birthday. Usually they are given a wooden imitation of daishoo or an ornament sword wrapped in brocade as a good luck charm. By the way, thanks for the reviews guys! Each has given me a push and a kick to continue writing this.

Smile.


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48: Freedom

The determination came back in Yumiko's eyes. She gently laid Naruto's head on the ground. Black shades had appeared beneath his eyes, and his breathing had reached a dangerously slow rate. _ I need to bring him outside this cage so his wound can materialize on his physical body. When that happens, I can easily heal him with my chakra. _

She stood up and looked around. There were only the clouds and plateaus. Dust circled around her, riding the wind, mocking her. She jumped off onto a plateau, searching for the whirlpool in the sky. When Naruto changed into his final Kyubi form, the one where he had become a long-haired human-fox, she had used the whirlpool to reach Naruto's plane of consciousness. She had taken over him then because he was too exhausted to keep awake.

_Where is that whirlpool?_ _Where is that damn whirlpool?_ She jumped off onto another plateau and searched. No whirlpool. Impatient now, she got down to get her sword that was covered in Naruto's blood. _If the whirlpool doesn't want to show up, then I'll just make another one._ She glanced at Naruto, inhaled, and glared at the sky. _Just wait a little, Naruto, I'll definitely save you._

She leaped and landed on a plateau. Stretching her arm, she formed a black ball on the tip of her sword. She then swung her sword, and the ball darted up to the sky with incredible speed. As the ball neared the closest nimbus cloud, the ball hit something invisible. The black ball disintegrated into shards of dark light.

Yumiko's eyes widened. _What is happening? My chakra ball should have at least reached the clouds!_ She flung another black ball towards the sky. As earlier, it crashed into something and then fragmented into shards. She became angry. Gripping her sword tighter, she launched up another series of chakra balls, but they all exploded to pieces after crashing into that mysterious barrier. Yumiko screamed in irritation. She launched yet another barrage of chakra balls until she could not lift her arm.

"What are you? Let us out of here!"

She forced herself to form another chakra ball. Then she stopped. There was a man beneath the clouds. _What the…?_ _Aren't you..?_

It was Namikaze Minato, Naruto's father. He was staring at Yumiko with a cool expression on his face.

…

The sun had come out of its dwelling place and was shining through the leaves of the trees. The surrounding was quiet. It was like being inside the eye of a storm.

Neji was using his second form of Byakugan, his Yorume. It was the form he used in surveillance. Range, scope, and accuracy-wise, it was as powerful as the prime form of his Byakugan; only that it could not see through things and, thus, chakra channels. Yorume concentrated on the strength of the irises and the occipital lobes of the brain, a feat only a genius among geniuses had the capability of controlling. It did not use a lot of chakra and, therefore, undetectable.

_They're still not attacking,_ Neji thought. _This has turned out to be a battle of attrition. But losing our patience means losing our lives. I should commend them. They are excellent hunters._

Then his thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Naruto. Behind his back, with his Yorume's property of three-hundred-sixty degree vision, he saw how Naruto fell forward. He turned his head in Naruto's direction and double-checked. "Naruto?" He looked around and found a large tree. He went behind it so that the enemy would not see what he was doing. Leaving a Kage Bunshin to take his place, he began his walk towards Naruto.

…

"Naruto! Naruto, hey! Shit!" Neji stood up and walked as casually as possible towards Tenten. He whispered into her ear. Tenten's first impulse was to run to Naruto, but Neji stopped her.

"Calm down. The enemies are everywhere. We cannot move, recklessly."

Tenten was already crying. "I don't care! Get out of my way!" She pushed Neji aside and started for Naruto, although despite of her words, she made a show to look calm.

But it was not the same with Kushina. Upon hearing Neji's news, she ran carelessly towards her son.

"Naruto! Naruto, please open your eyes!" Kushina continued on tapping Naruto's cheek.

Tenten stopped pacing and leaned beside Kushina. "Kushina-san, let's try resuscitating him."

Kushina ignored her. "Naruto, please wake up! God, why is this happening again?"

"Kushina-san!"

_I'm glad Aika and Chiasa-san are not here to complicate things further,_ Neji thought. Then he suddenly envisioned Rock Lee doing a mouth to mouth to Naruto. He shivered. _And him. I'm especially glad he's not here._

"Kushina-san!" Tenten repeated.

"What are you yapping about?" Kushina said, her face gleaming with tears. "Can't you see that I'm—?"

"Like us! We're all worried for Naruto! But if we just stand here and continue crying our eyes out, he will really die!"

Kushina stared at Tenten, weighing things in her chaotic mind. Then she said, "All right. I'll do it."

Tenten let out a sigh of relief.

Kushina put Naruto's head down and prepared herself. She stared at his motionless face. A few moments passed, and then a few more with Kushina doing nothing but stare.

"Kushina-san, what are you doing? You're taking too long. Time is running out." When Kushina did not move, Tenten grabbed her. "Step aside. I'll do it."

"All right, all right! I got it, okay, I got it," Kushina said.

Kushina returned her eyes on Naruto, and gulped. She lowered her face, slowly opening her mouth. When their lips were about to touch, she stopped. A blush crept from her neck to her forehead. "I can't do it!"

Neji and Tenten frowned at her.

"It's like kissing him! I can't kiss my son!"

"What? Kushina-san, it's not the time to entertain silly thoughts," Tenten said. "This is an emergency."

Kushina cast them a pleading look. "It's incest, right?"

Tenten threw her hands up. "Kushina-san, you're son is dying in front of you! You should not care even if you need to fuck him to save him."

Kushina cringed as if slapped.

"Is she really serious?" Neji asked. "My, she's really blushing."

Tenten grunted. "Neji, use your Byakugan. Tell me if his chakra flow is all right."

Neji looked unsure. "It might be a bad thing to do right now."

Tenten glared at him. "You're both useless." She ripped Naruto's jacket, exposing his seemingly tattooed chest because of the Hakke Fuin seal. The tendrils of the seal were slowly moving and forming different patterns on Naruto's skin. "Neji, Kushina-san, come here. The seal is doing something."

Neji and Kushina peered over.

"It's moving," Neji said. He looked up and caught the glances of Tenten and Kushina.

…

"Minato? Is that you?" Yumiko asked. She was trembling.

"I cannot let you out," Minato said.

Yumiko gritted her teeth, her brows making an ugly crease in her forehead. "Why are you here? I haven't felt your chakra ever since Naruto attained Shihai."

"I'm just borrowing this appearance," Minato said. "If you want to take his spirit into his own plane of consciousness, then you must defeat me."

"If that's what you are here for, then I will defeat you." Yumiko closed her eyes for a few seconds. "I am the ruler of this space. I can do anything here." She began to climb up towards the sky. It was as if an invisible stair was there to support her feet.

Minato looked on. "But I am the_ owner_ of this seal. I have the sole authority of controlling everything that surrounds you. However, I will not do that. I, alone, am enough to stop you."

"Don't get cocky!" Yumiko dashed up towards Minato and slashed at him. A barrier stopped her sword, creating lightning from the friction. She tried to attack again, unfazed, but the barrier was too strong for her. She could not penetrate the enclosure.

"Give up. I am the Hakke Fuin itself. I am designed to imprison even the spirit of gods. You will not be able to get out."

"As if I'll just accept that!" Roaring, she attacked him again.

"You're persistent. Do you care for Naruto that much? He ignored you in the past, and since he attained Shihai, he has taken you for granted. Why don't you just let him disappear in this place? The seal will disappear with him and you will be able to have his physical body. Aren't you still seeking for revenge?"

"Revenge, revenge, revenge! I'm through with it!"

"You still have an unquenchable hatred in your heart. How will you deal with it?"

"I don't know. But if there was something that caused me to hate so much, it was my lack of faith. Naruto taught me how to believe in things not seen by the eye." She paused and made sure that Minato was looking. "And I want to learn more from him."

Minato smiled. "I see. Defeat me, then. Defeat me and you will get your wish."

…

When Naruto woke up, he remembered a scene with Kushina in Hensen no Kuusho.

"There are two reasons why a spirit cannot pass on to the afterlife," Kushina had said. "First is a personal reason. Meaning, a person has something that keeps her wishing to live, like an unrequited love or an unfulfilled dream. The second reason is the materialization of a dark emotion. Using chakra, a powerful dark emotion like hatred can manifest itself, physically. The Demon Fox is included in this category. Using a portion of the Jubi's chakra, the hatred that the Crimson Queen carried in her heart was able to materialize into the form of a nine-tailed fox that imprisoned her spirit. This physical form became the force that performed the things she wanted done." Kushina looked up, a trifle hesitant. "Naruto, the type of sealing used to contain spirits in the second category is the easiest to unseal. All you need to do is separate the materialization of the dark emotion from its bearer. Today, I'm going to teach you how to do this."

Naruto stood up. He looked at the flashes of light coming from the clouds above him. He was sure they weren't lightning. The flashes were way too fast in succession to be lightning. _It's Yumiko. She is trying to break out of here._

After experiencing Yumiko's past in person, he had come to a decision. He thought that Yumiko needed freedom from her past more than anything else. She had suffered for a long time, and he had become the trigger that lit the fuse of a finally fading malevolence in her being. However sincere he could be, just apologizing and making yet another promise to appease her rage would never suffice as his atonement. He could only do one thing. Stretching his hand, he grabbed at the invisible fabric surrounding him. The life force of the Hakke Fuin flowed into him. It went into every place of his being. Finally, the laws of the space became one with his existence. He knew now what the space was and how to move according to its design. He put a foot forward and climbed up an invisible stair.

It was indeed Yumiko. She was trying to break an enclosure that protected a figure that looked like his father. Of course, he knew now that it was not Minato. It was the impersonation of the Hakke Fuin seal.

"Yumiko," he said.

Surprised, Yumiko whirled around. Her eyes widened when she saw him. "N-Naruto? How…" She jerked her head back at the Hakke Fuin. "Did you do this?"

The Hakke Fuin smiled. "Remember that I'm the owner of this space. I'll leave you both for a while. I'll be everywhere and will be listening." He faded and disappeared.

"Hey! Wait!"

"Yumiko," Naruto repeated.

Yumiko stiffened. It was a long time before she got enough courage to face him. "What?"

Naruto chuckled. "Still trying to be hard on me?"

"It's not that! It's just…"

Naruto went to her and held her chin. Yumiko rolled her eyes away. "Are you still angry with me?"

"I told you it's not that!" She pulled her chin away.

"The Hakke Fuin told me that you were trying to break it to save me. Is that true?"

Colors came to her cheeks, but she kept looking down.

Unable to contain his emotions any longer, Naruto embraced her. Yumiko tried to struggle, but he tightened his embrace.

"Let me go, Naruto!" she said.

"I saw your past."

Yumiko froze. "What? That bastard! Hey, you don't have the right to show him anything! Show yourself! Will you let me go? Get off me, Naruto!"

"Please, even for a while. Please, Yumiko."

"Why? You should be disgusted! I don't understand you. I killed many. I killed helpless children, Naruto. Can you imagine how sunken I am in filth? I don't deserve anything but to be hated. I even tried to kill you!"

"You deserve everything."

"W-what?"

"You suffered for so long. This is only a small thing that I can do to take off some of the pain you carry."

Yumiko stopped struggling. Sensing it, Naruto slid his hands to hold hers. He massaged the back of her right hand until she let go of her sword. It took so long before someone moved, and the first movement to break the pause was Yumiko putting her chin on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto felt that Yumiko had relaxed. He did not feel any hostility from her anymore. He let it for a while, not wanting to disrupt the brittle mood all of a sudden.

"Did you really fall in love with me?" he asked.

Yumiko did not reply as if she did not hear. But after a few moments, she spoke.

"I did," she said.

"Why?"

Yumiko inhaled a lungful. "Because you are not like my other Jinchuurikis. Mito was afraid of me, and your mother hates me. They saw me as ordinary humans see me, a monster. But you…do you remember the time when you rudely asked me for assistance? You looked me in the eye and spat the words, 'You need to pay some rent!' Do you remember that?"

"Yes. That was awful of me."

"That was the first time a Jinchuuriki has done something like that to me. Usually, once I am locked in inside the seal, they try to forget that I exist. You're different. You acknowledged me and my capabilities."

"You will never fall in love for something like that."

"True, but it caught my attention. I became interested in you. From watching your every day life, I learned that almost everyone in Konoha hated you because of me. Parents did not let their children come near you. You received glares instead of smiles when you tried being friendly with them. No one wanted to accept you as one of them. Some even ignored your existence, completely. But you accepted their hatred with a straight face. You never thought of revenge. You did not give up trying to be acknowledged. You kept your faith that someday things would be better.

"Then there came Uchiha Sasuke. Konoha has already branded him a public enemy, but you still chase after him. Your faith is so strong that you ignore the possibility that the villagers will turn their backs on you again because of what you're trying to do. No one believes in him anymore, even that Sakura girl who used to have a crush on him. But you? You are still not giving up.

"I asked myself why you couldn't just stop, why you couldn't leave him and move on. I asked myself endlessly, but I couldn't find an answer. I tried so hard to convince myself that you were just doing that because you had an ulterior motive. I held onto that belief until your mother appeared. I hoped so much that you would give in to hate once you knew that I had killed your parents. But you crushed that hope of mine. I did not feel any hatred from you. Incredibly, you accepted everything there and then, without any hesitation. To tell you the truth, I was so shocked I realized that I had to kill you. A feeling occurred to me that if I continued on doing things half-heartedly, I would lose my power over you.

"But I was too late. You reached Shiriai before I could act. I felt rage spreading inside me as the Rikudou forced me to sleep, but then you said the words, 'I don't want to treat you badly…' After all of the things you heard from your mother, I could not believe that you could send me off with kind words.

"I was confused. I detached myself from my ego so that I could examine my emotions. I already suspected that my feelings for you were not of contempt because every time I think of you I felt lightheaded and happy. But my pride repeatedly denied it. I went through that process over and over until I began missing you. Did you know that I cried from so much joy when you entered Hensen no Kuusho?

"Yes, it was foolish of me. But I wanted to see you. That was all that mattered. While I watched you clashing with those strong people, I found myself cheering for you when you triumphed and worrying for you when you got injured. Do you remember when you almost died after fighting the old goateed guy? That day, I had prayed for the first time since my parents were murdered, pleading the gods with all my heart that they spare you. And when you woke up okay, I felt, though it was illogical, that the gods had heard me.

"There came a time when denial would not surface in my mind anymore. My pride vanished. 'I don't care. I like him,' I would say. This became my excuse when my heart raced or my face got hot while watching you. My affection had deepened and you became my obsession. For the first time in my life, I was able to say that I had fallen in love again. I believe that even though a wall separated me from my chakra, I was able to convey how I felt. Maybe it was one of the reasons my chakra allowed itself to fuse with your chakra without much resistance.

"Naruto, I fell in love with you not only because you were cute." She waited for his reaction and was disappointed when she saw none. "The main reason was your attitude towards people. You taught me that faith is the key to prevent and end hatred. A person should not lose hope and continue to believe that people are kind deep inside and are only led astray by this world full of painful things. I still don't completely understand your way of thinking. You have seen how I reacted to your affair with the Uchiha girl. But be assured that I'm trying my best to learn. Someday I will be free from this hatred of mine."

"I will say it again," Naruto said. "For an extraordinary woman to fall in love with me, I'm very flattered. But after seeing your past, I concluded that what you really need is a friend."

"I only have an answer to that because this is the only thing I know is true. I love you, Naruto, and I love you not as a friend."

Naruto looked at their entwined hands. He caressed her palms with his index fingers, savoring the feel of her calloused hands. "I want you to experience freedom. I want you to continue your life that you prematurely lost after your parents died."

"What do you mean?"

Naruto let go of her hands and stepped back.

Yumiko frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Will you promise to be my friend whatever happens?"

"Of course! But what is this? Naruto, you're scaring me!"

"I'm sorry we have to part this way." Naruto formed thirteen hand seals.

Finally, Yumiko understood what was happening. She tried to go to Naruto, but a thick glass barrier grew up from the ground to separate them. Yumiko attempted to break the glass, but it was too thick it did not even vibrate. She was crying now, screaming and calling his name, but Naruto could not hear her. She looked frightened, and Naruto had to summon a lot of courage to stop himself from breaking the glass and comforting her.

"Are you sure you want to get on with this?" the Hakke Fuin asked. It had taken Minato's appearance again. "This is not the ritual for the normal Yuujo stage. Are you trying the other one?"

"Yes. It's time for me to let go of her."

"She might not come back to you. Are you sure you want to lose her?"

"Ever since, no one has had the right to make her a servant. She is not meant as a source of power. Besides, I will still have the Kyubi."

Yumiko kept banging on the glass barrier, her face wet with tears now.

"Without her as the catalyst, it will be dangerous for you. The Kyubi's chakra might destroy your mind and your body. Are you prepared for that?"

"My father had faith in me. He believed that I would succeed in controlling the Kyubi."

The Hakke Fuin shook its head. "I don't understand you. But, okay. I will make sure the seal doesn't break until she's out of here."

"All right," Naruto said. "Let's do this."

The voice of her mother came back. _Naruto, the first phase of unsealing is disassembling the stages of the seal…_

Naruto made seals, ending it with the seal for horse. "Ura no Saikyoiku no Dankai!" Another set, this one ending with ox. "Ura no Kumiawase no Dankai!" This one ending with dragon. "Ura no Shiriai no Dankai!" And the last ended with ram. "Ura no Shihai no Dankai!"

_All the negative energy will gather in one place, near its source. You have to get the proper timing because it will devour the bearer if you're too late and escape if you're too early..._

Naruto saw a black, grotesque figure of a large entity behind Yumiko. Yumiko's face was filled with fear as she looked up at the ugly manifestation. Naruto spread his arms and then clapped. He locked his hands together into a ten-finger fist, creating the seal for serpent.

_This phase will create a hole in the wall. The hole will then suck the negative energy away from its bearer into the place where the conductor of the unsealing is standing…_

A small hole appeared high in the wall and, instantly, it sucked the black manifestation from the section of the barrier where Yumiko was. It recreated itself a distance away from Naruto. Looking at it, Naruto found how gruesome it was. It had the face of the Demon Fox, but it was not the same as before, where he had found a strange kind of beauty in it. This one was pure abomination. Its convoluted body was filled with human faces screaming in so much pain. Its stench was nauseating: the smell of decaying corpses. Large slobs of black sludge would fall from its hide every time it moved.

"So this is your hatred and guilt," he said. Naruto looked at the hole. It was still sucking parts of the black manifestation from Yumiko's side of the glass barrier.

_The hole will automatically close after it has completed its job, and you will see the original bearer of the cloak begin to disintegrate…_

Naruto looked at Yumiko. Now she was horrified of the situation. Her face was filled with worry for him. She was calling his name. She was crying. She was beating at the indestructible barrier separating her from Naruto.

"I'll be waiting," Naruto said.

Yumiko's eyes widened, unable to understand his meaning.

Now the hole closed and the abomination near him was complete. Its pupil-less eyes glowered at him. It opened its mouth and greenish muck flooded out from its stomach.

_The negative energy will search for a new spirit to devour. Sealers use a piece of the earth's chakra as bait. You should feed the negative energy immediately before it eats you…_

Naruto could see the beginning of Yumiko's disintegration. She was wailing now. From the movement of her lips, he realized what she was saying.

"Why? Why did you do this? I don't want to be separated from you! Stop this, Naruto! Please…Please don't do this to me!"

Naruto went to the glass and put his hands on the place where Yumiko's palms were. "I have faith in you."

…

Yumiko seemed to understand her helplessness. "No. This is not happening. This is so unfair." Only the part from her chest to her head remained. _Naruto…_

_That's okay. I can try again._

_I don't go back on my words. _

_I'll bring Sasuke back._

_I don't know. But trust me. I will find a way._

_I will never give up!_

Remembering these words, Yumiko was able to compose herself. "Okay. I will believe. Naruto, wait for me. And please always remember that I love you."

Naruto nodded. "I will."

She stepped back, inhaled a lungful, and then gave him her most beautiful smile. Naruto smiled back, and as she disappeared, his smile was all she could see.

…

The Hakke Fuin appeared beside Naruto. "You cannot separate the Kyubi from that thing so you have to take it in, too. Are you ready for it?"

Naruto eyed the ugly being that was slowly making its way towards him. "I wouldn't have done this if I was not."

"Remember that there will be no more seal to help you control the Kyubi. You're on your own now."

"I know."

"The normal Yuujo could have given you unmatchable power, yet you chose the second form. This doesn't happen often. Well, considering that you are the first one to ever attain Yuujo, it is indeed rare, but I guess my point is clear."

"When I was unconscious, I had a glimpse of what would have happened to Yumiko if I had chosen the first form of Yuujo. Her physical body would have turned to ash. She would have been a spiritual entity forever. I can't do that to anyone, especially to someone like Yumiko who is a dear person to me."

"A dear person, eh?"

Naruto gave him a sideway glance. "Don't get rhetoric on me."

The Hakke Fuin chuckled, and then glanced up at the monster fox behind Naruto. "Oh, that was fast. It's here already." He patted Naruto's head. "Good luck, kid. I must be going now. I hope we never meet again." He faded, and disappeared forever.

Naruto turned to face the abomination. "Now, it's you and me alone." He made a series of seals, ending it with tiger. "Ura no Yuujo no Dankai!"

The monster opened its large mouth and lunged at him.

…

"Look, the mark is fading!" Tenten said. She noticed the movement beneath Naruto's lids. "Naruto is waking up."

Kushina knelt beside her son. "Naruto?"

Slowly, Naruto opened his eyes.

…

At the same time, Yumiko opened hers.

_To be continued…_


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter 49: New Stage

Tenten looked sideways at Kushina. She was still bothered by Kushina's strange behavior earlier and she wanted to check. As Naruto opened his eyes, she grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss. Kushina pushed her away.

"What's wrong with you?" Kushina said. "He's already woken up!"

Tenten could only stare, startled at Kushina's harsh reaction. A mother would never have had reacted like that.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you," Kushina said. Emotions struggled in her eyes, backed up by the fiery blush on her face.

As Tenten had thought, something was wrong with Kushina. If her suspicions were proven true, things would get worse. She could not let that happen. She stood up and pulled Kushina away from the two boys.

Kushina was glaring at her when they stopped under a big tree. She looked like an upset schoolgirl than the woman her body represented. Tenten waited if that expression on Kushina's face would disappear.

"Don't ever make the excuse that you were just doing a CPR!" Kushina said.

"I was trying to confirm something," Tenten said. "Kushina-san, how old were you when you died?"

"Why are you asking me that all of a sudden?"

"Just answer me."

Even though doubtful, Kushina answered. "I don't remember, but I think I was in my early twenties."

"You don't remember how old you were when you were pregnant with Naruto?"

"It was a long time ago, and something might have happened to me during the attack of the Demon Fox. I've forgotten a lot of things. But I'm sure I was not yet twenty-five."

"That's impossible. You cannot forget something like that."

"I've got nothing to explain because I'm telling the truth."

"Okay. I'm sorry. That's not my point, anyway."

Kushina crossed her arms. "What is this all about?"

"Kushina-san, you are aware that you have a young woman's body, right?"

"Of course."

"And you have not grown old since the day you died."

"You will stop growing because your physical body ceases to exist," Kushina said. "Could you please get to the point? Your inciting questions are making me uncomfortable."

"I'm saying that, basically, you are a healthy young woman in your prime, kicking with hormones you can barely contain. And even though you are aware of the fact that you are Naruto's mother, you two are technically strangers to each other. You met your son when he was already grown up. He is excruciatingly attractive and kind. In addition to that, he has your late husband's ideals."

Kushina's eyes grew wide in horror. "Are you saying that I'm in love with Naruto? With my own son?"

"Shush!" Tenten threw a nervous glance at Neji and Naruto. "Don't be too loud! I know that this is a shock. But have you ever found yourself staring at him in a different way? I mean in a way that, you know, not parental?"

Kushina could only blush. "I knew it. Something is wrong with me."

"As I've been telling you, technically, you are not mother and son." Tenten sighed. "My grandfather had told me that it was a taboo for the dead to come back to life. A dead coming back to life destroys the natural order of things. It calls forth misfortune and pain. Kushina-san, you should go back to where you got that body from. I think you can get answers from there."

Kushina glanced at Naruto with worried eyes. She remembered how sincerely pleased she had been when Setsuko suspected that she was Naruto's girlfriend, how angry she had been when he told her his engagement with the Demon Fox, and how frustrated she had been when he announced his marriage with Yori. She was jealous of all the girls getting his attention. And her heart beat fast every time he told her he loved her. She had originally thought that it was all just a sentiment of a mother, but now that Tenten had pointed out bluntly and rationally what lay beneath the illusion created by the word _son_, everything crumbled.

"What am I supposed to do?" Kushina asked.

"Ask him to summon you back to the Village of Dogs. That's the only way. If you stay here, I'm afraid that your feelings will develop until they become uncontrollable. The consequences will be unpleasant. Furthermore, you can ask the one who has given you that body for something to help you adjust with the emotional _normalcy_ of being resurrected as your original self."

Kushina cried. "I was just trying to be with my son for a little longer. Is that wrong?"

"Kushina-san, listen to me. It's not you. It's the body you have. It's dictating your mind what to think of Naruto."

"I don't know. Let me think about it first."

"All right. But promise me something." Tenten raised her left hand and stuck out her pinky. "Don't ever make him sense your feelings for him. Just be a mother to him, okay? The episode earlier will be the last. I promise in exchange that I won't tell anyone about this."

Kushina considered for a while, eyes fixed on Tenten's slender pinky. Then she made her decision and hooked her own pinky around Tenten's. "Deal. If I cannot control it any longer, I'll ask Naruto to summon me back to the Village of Dogs."

…

Neji watched the two women as they talked under the tree. He knew that it was about Kushina's strange behavior earlier. As long as he was concerned, that was the third time he had seen Kushina act weirdly towards Naruto. Something was stirring inside the red-haired woman.

Naruto stood up, a hand on his chest. "We need to finish this fast," he said.

"What?" Neji was frowning.

"We need to stop this war. I need to get to the root of all this."

"Naruto, you're being vague." What was Naruto trying to say? He suddenly exuded urgency he had not shown before. Was he speaking in plain words? "Anyway, are you feeling all right?"

Naruto glanced at Neji as if he was seeing him for the first time. "Neji. Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

Neji's frown deepened. "What happened to you? You were sitting there, and then you suddenly fell over. We all thought that you were dead."

"It's—" Naruto grunted as if something pierced his chest. He squeezed the bunch of fabric over it. "It's nothing. It happens every now and then, but it's not dangerous. It's a part of the reason I don't want anyone around when I meditate."

Neji observed Naruto. Beads of sweat had come up on his forehead. He was trembling even though he was trying hard not to show it. His lips were white, and even without touching him, Neji knew that his palms were cold. Naruto was in great pain.

Neji cast an anxious look in Tenten and Kushina's direction, but decided not to say anything to them. Like Naruto, he did not want to make them worry more than they already were.

"We are surrounded by unknown enemies," Neji said. "We are waiting for them to make the first move as Chiasa-san advised."

"We should not fight. Is there anyway to communicate with them?"

"I don't know. Chiasa-san only told us to avoid killing any one. She might have encountered them before, but she would not say the details."

"That's fine." Naruto began to walk towards the direction of the enemy.

Neji was in front of him, immediately. "Where do you think you are going?"

Naruto looked into Neji's eyes with deep determination. "Someone has to make the first step."

"I don't think I get you, but you need to stop. You're not only risking your life but ours as well."

"All of you are strong and I'm not gonna die. Someone just needs to understand their reason." Naruto made a step, but Neji held his shoulders.

"I'm not going to let you."

"I'm not going to die, Neji. Have you lost your faith in me?"

Naruto gave Neji a confident smile and that unarmed him. Had Naruto been confident like this? It was not the usual childish reassurance. It was confidence in a cool way. It could only be demonstrated by someone who knew what the outcome of his actions would be. He must say something to Naruto. Naruto's attitude was breaking his own calm.

"Setsuko has gone to get to the leader of this attack party. I'm sure she will stop them in a non-violent way—"

"NEJI!"

That was a command with authority. Naruto's voice rang out through the trees, and everyone heard him. Katsuo narrowed his eyes. Lee, Aika, and Chiasa looked over their shoulders. Tenten and Kushina straightened and shifted their attention on Naruto.

Neji stepped back. His fingers almost came to Naruto's neck and could have possibly killed him. Naruto's killing intent was still palpable and right now was giving him the creeps. He gave off a darkness he had experienced while they were fighting Pain. But contrary to that darkness, this one was immeasurably deep. For a moment, he had felt some of his spirit draining into that dark void.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that," Naruto said. "Neji, being strong doesn't only mean protecting what you care for. I need to go and you have to let me."

Neji could only stare as Naruto walked away. More than his words, it was Naruto's behavior that shocked him.

"Naruto! Naruto, hey!" Tenten called out.

Neji raised his hand to stop her. "It's no use. He's giving me the feeling that he's broken through…I don't know…something deep. He was trying to wake me up as if I've been sleeping all this time. Your words won't go through him."

…

At last, only a few steps more and they would enter the territory of Gotoka. The trip had been uneventful. Hashirama had steered away from detection with the skill of a forest beast. Looking in the east, she could see the flashes of cannons piercing through the clouds. The diminished sound of explosions gave a steady rhythm, and she knew that it was the rhythm of keeping and taking life, the Ballet of War.

"We're here," Hashirama said. He walked through a thick bush.

Along grumbling stomachs and dwindling consciousness, excitement cruised through her veins. She could feel the same feeling from the people behind her.

Midori stuck her head through the bush, wary of what she would see. Journeying with Hashirama had engraved this cautiousness in her. Upon seeing the stretch ahead, her eyes widened. She could not help pushing through the entwined branches and leaves. Now she stood at the edge of the rise which marked the boundary line of Nue, and in front of her…a wreckage dump.

The large expanse of the land was covered with sunken floating ships. Their number she would not be able to count in a day. The litter stretched beyond the scope of her vision, and with the fog thick as this she wasn't that sure.

"Holy…what happened here?" Tsuneo said. His nose wrinkled. "Where is that stink coming from?"

"It's a graveyard, Father," Midori said. Luka, her white fox, climbed up onto her shoulder and growled.

"Let's go," Reiko said. "We will lose Hashirama-sensei in this fog if we don't hurry."

They went on with Reiko on the lead. Midori wished that she could sleep like Hiromi on her father's back, too—couldn't she smell the stench? Even though she had had her share of fright inside Luka's tomb, the atmosphere in this place was close to unbearable. She could feel the crying ghosts of the dead on her skin. With the smell of decay wafting around, it was hard thinking of pleasant things to block even a little of the nauseating ambiance.

A hand closed over hers, and when she turned to look, Saki was smiling at her. "Are you uncomfortable?"

"N-no! This is small. I can handle this."

"Don't force yourself. I'm here beside you."

"You're late," a man said. It was a familiar voice. "By one day."

Midori narrowed her eyes to have a better look at the owner of the voice. She could only see silhouettes.

"It's not polite to point out your superior's tardiness," Hashirama said. "Shakiri, do something about this fog."

Midori came closer to Hashirama, pulling Saki with her. As she was about to ask a question, the fog suddenly condensed and turned into dewdrops. Midori froze as she was met by the sight of a couple hundred shinobis in uniform. They looked fierce and powerful. She estimated that each of the shinobis was at least as strong as her father Tsuneo. The shinobis had forehead protectors with the emblem of a tree that some wore around their foreheads, their necks, and their arms. Others had slung it on their belts. Beside Hashirama was Zuko, the bald monk.

"Good job," Hashirama told a tall woman with small slits on the side of her neck. Her skin resembled that of a shark. A sword twice the length of ordinary swords was tied on her back. She had gray eyes and long black hair. She possessed an intimidating kind of beauty more reminiscent of a wild flower.

"Sensei, I've chosen these Jonins for the mission," an extremely beautiful young girl said. She wore a delicately woven white robe that matches her flawless white skin. Her eyes had the color of blue ice and her hair was white. Midori felt her competitive nature react to the presence of this perfect human being. "I divided them into eight groups to be led by your highest ranked ninjas. Two divisions of medical nins will be led by Reiko-senpai and Enka."

Hashirama nodded, reached out, and patted the girl's head. "Well done. Call the commanders."

After a couple of minutes, three people and a giant gorilla rose and assembled in front of Hashirama to join the tall shark-woman and the young girl with the white hair. Hashirama introduced them one by one to Midori and her family. The huge man with the large grin on his face was Gamara, the frontal assault leader. His weapon was a large horse-cutter sword, twice the size of his body. The tall, good-looking man was Honsho Sensui, the reconnaissance team leader. The tall shark-woman was Hoshikagi Shakiri of the Hoshikagi clan, the siege specialist. The gorilla—no!—a girl with short green hair popped up from its back and waved. She introduced herself as Hamanabi Enka, the team leader of the first medical division. The gorilla was Ikki. The young girl with the white hair was called Kamakiri Akito, Hashirama's second-in-command. Midori had already met the others: Brass, the mole-faced man who had guided Zuko to Morigakure, Zuko himself, and Reiko.

"These are the people that we will protect with our lives," Hashirama said. He introduced Midori and her family to his troops.

"Hey, where is that Naruto guy Zuko-jiji was talking about?" Enka asked, climbing over to sit on the shoulder of the eight foot gorilla. Midori could hardly take her eyes from the giant ape.

Akito was tilting her head to the side—a cute gesture in Midori's opinion—searching for someone. She was not speaking but Midori knew what she was looking for.

"A lot happened," Hashirama said with a sigh. "He's travelling with Chiasa right now."

"Did you send them to another mission?" Enka said.

"Yes," Hashirama said.

"I see. I was hoping to see him. Zuko-jiji was always talking about him. Is he really that strong?"

The smile that stretched Hashirama's face was that of sincere pride. "He is."

"Really? If—"

"If I fought him, could I win?" Akito asked, her white eyes hopeful for Hashirama's affirmative answer.

"Hey, that's my line!" Enka grumbled. "Wait for your turn!"

"You won't. He defeated one of the Left Wing," Hashirama said.

"Wow," Akito simply said, admiration on her cute face.

"Hey! Zuko-jiji did not tell us something like that!" Enka said.

"I did not expect that he'd be gone with Chiasa," Zuko replied. "I thought that it would be more compelling if he told you himself."

"He won't brag about it," Midori said.

Akito looked into her eyes. Midori became uncomfortable when Akito did not take away her gaze from her.

"Is there dirt on my face?" Midori asked, and she knew that it was a dumb question.

"This girl likes that Naruto," Akito told Hashirama.

"What? Hey, you don't have the right to claim such things!" Midori said.

Akito ignored her. "I want to meet him even more. I've been waiting for someone that could defeat me in battle."

Hashirama smiled at Akito. "You won't win, I'm telling you."

"Don't ignore me!" Midori complained.

"Enough," said Hashirama. "We will camp here for tonight. Brass, clean up a clearing for us and Shakiri, make sure that the smell doesn't reach our tent."

Brass nodded and drilled himself into the earth. Twenty ninjas stood up and followed the burrow as if they had directly received the command. It was obvious that they were keen for Hashirama's every word.

Hashirama turned to Midori and her family. "The four of you, follow me."

…

Midori was intimidated. She had exchanged words with the fairy—now she liked to think of Akito as a malevolent fairy—to defend a part of her pride. She did not want to feel pressured, but she could not help it. These people reeked of blood. The first time she had had such a smell was when Hiromi and Setsuko had been abducted by Zuko. Zuko had pressed them hard with his killing intent, enough even to take away her consciousness. This time the air was heavy with it. And breathing was hard. Looking at Hashirama's back, she realized what she still lacked. It was the feeling of being at ease while taking a life.

As they walked back towards the rear of the group, Midori sensed a movement from the corner of her eye. She stopped and looked, but she saw nothing. When she decided to walk on, something moved and this time it was close. She frowned at a dead warrior a few meters away from her. _Did it move?_ She let out a harsh sigh, getting irked by the idea that her mind was playing tricks on her. As she went on with her walk, a shadow rose up behind her. She was too late to defend herself, and she did not know it. Then whatever it was behind her puffed off into fine dust. She whirled and when the cloud of dust dissipated, the blade of her lance was at the base of Honsho Sensui's neck.

Sensui's eyes rolled down at her, his right hand still stretched out. He straightened and pushed her blade away. With his deep voice he said, "I'm not your enemy." He glanced around. "Looks like they are very close, though."

Midori looked around. The ninjas were now on their feet, faces calm and alert. Shakiri, Reiko, Akito, Enka, and Sensui had taken on the visage of a samurai's face mask: cold, blank, and inscrutable. Only Gamara showed excitement. There was an eerie silence that followed as they waited for another movement. And it came.

The corpses began rising to their feet, uttering quiet groans that made the hair on Midori's back stand on ends. Shocked, a ninja began to attack a corpse.

"Stop," a calm voice said. They all looked towards the direction of the voice. Nobody paid attention to the walking corpses as this single presence summarized everything. He was a lean man with white hair, a sharp face, and mocking smile that seemed to be his mouth's natural shape. He wore a white and gold kabuki vest, a black hakama, and white long-sleeved robe. He was sitting on top of a Doton technique-crafted post.

Midori's attention shifted to Reiko when the blonde woman suddenly stepped back. Hashirama had a grim countenance as well, as if they did not expect something like this to happen. The corpses lurched past them towards the forest beyond.

"Shitto," Hashirama said.

Shitto grinned, exposing his white teeth. "I want to thank your ninjas for doing this much for me."

"As if we'll let you off easily," Hashirama said.

"Slow down," Shitto said. "You have with you fragile merchandise." He shot the sleeping Hiromi a meaningful glance.

"You—"

"I don't want to fight, anyway," Shitto said.

"Let's kill him," Tsuneo said. "I'll protect Hiromi."

Shitto sneered. "Could you really protect her?"

Tsuneo glared at him. "Try me."

"You, who sealed his ninjutsu away?"

"I can defeat you plenty of ways without using any ninjutsu."

Shitto laughed. "That is just the funniest thing I've heard—"

Tsuneo suddenly appeared in front of him. He was just three feet away from the puppeteer. He cracked his knuckles. "Let's do this."

Shitto cocked his eyebrow. "Could you really protect the heiresses?"

This cut the last thread. Tsuneo attacked, sending a massive punch at Shitto. From the point of view of those who were watching from below, Tsuneo seemed to have connected. His movements were too fast that Honsho Sensui alluded to something like even he could not have escaped it.

Silence.

The reverie of the spectators was broken when Hashirama groaned. "Shit. Too late."

…

Tsuneo had felt nothing but air against his fist. Three feet was too wide a distance for Shitto. He knew this man too well, knew him as far back as his childhood. The only regret he had now was his being too weak as to let his fury get the better out of him. He gritted his teeth as he stared at Midori's emotionless face. She had her lance aimed at his heart.

"I could have killed these two if I was in the mood, but as what I've said, I don't want to fight," Shitto said from behind him. He raised his voice so that the crowd below would hear. "Let my soldiers pass and I'll let the heiresses go. I've got chakra threads with sectional diameter of a microbe stretched everywhere so don't dare move a muscle else the two girls die."

Right now, Hiromi was struggling to free herself from the root that had caught her leg while she held a kunai against her own neck.

Shitto turned and faced Tsuneo. The grin on his face disappeared. "I've never seen you in a long time."

"Don't talk to me as if there's still some humanity left in you. You're the very essence of the Devil."

"I'm disappointed that you've grown this weak. Did you not promise to end my life?" Shitto sat on top of a rock, crouched over, and began to draw lines on the ground. "Being proud is good, but being proud for the wrong reasons is the worst you could do."

"A murderer doesn't have the right to talk to me like that."

"I don't have to have a right to speak a truth."

Tsuneo opened his mouth, but abruptly clamped it close. No one talked for a long while. The only sound during that long pause was the corpse's hobbles and creepy groans. Hashirama and his ninjas, despite in terrible itch to tear the puppeteer apart, had the professionalism to accept the situation. They had lost and they knew it.

Finally, Shitto stood up. The exodus of his puppets was finished. He looked at Tsuneo. "The next time we meet, one of us has to die."

"It's not I who will."

"If you succeed in maiming me to the point that leaving me behind could kill me, I'll tell you what really happened between your brother and his summon, that beautiful wolf called Kinjo. After then, maybe you'll finally understand why I called you weak and why I'm disappointed in you."

Shitto smiled and Tsuneo was surprised to see that it was a smile that was pleading for forgiveness. He blinked and Shitto was gone. He looked around, wary of the possibility that the demon had changed his mind. But Shitto was nowhere to be seen.

Midori lost consciousness and started falling. Tsuneo ran to catch her. "Honey, are you all right? Midori?"

Midori shook her head. "I'm fine, Father. Just a little headache. But…" She pushed herself away from his grasp. "Was that guy telling the truth?"

"What truth? What are you talking about?"

"That white-haired creep! He was just talking to me a while ago. He told me a lot of things…including the fact that you are not my true father."

Hearing this, Tsuneo thought that his whole world would crumble.

…

Meanwhile, in the forest of Hashaboro, Naruto stood at arms length in front of a tall, tattooed man.

"Please. We are just passing. We don't want to fight," Naruto said.

"Hindi kita maintindihan." The tattooed man shook his head. "Pasensiya na pero kailangan naming gawin ito. Kailangan naming iligtas ang isang buhay."

Naruto did not blink. The man's words were strange, but he could feel the emotion behind every syllable he had uttered. "Maybe I'll understand you when we exchanged fists."

The tattooed man stared at Naruto for a long time. "Sana mapatawad mo kami," he said and backed away.

_To be continued…_

Author's note: Sorry for making you wait for three weeks. My review has already started and it gets busier and busier as days pass by. I can only promise to update as fast as I can with the available time I have. I hope you stick with this story until the end.


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter 50: The Kalulan Warrior

The tattooed man had chosen to fight. Naruto could understand just by looking at the man's face that he was desperate.

Naruto raised his voice. "I know one of you can understand me! Please tell your leader that if he wants a fight, then let me fight him one on one. I don't want any unnecessary casualty."

One of the men behind the leader approached and whispered something into his ear. The leader showed agreement to it. He looked back at Naruto with due respect.

The leader raised his arm to point eastward. The man beside him said, "We fight there!"

Naruto nodded. He raised his hand as if to catch something. A moment later, his white surfboard came dashing through the trees and into his hand.

The same man beside the leader said, "Tell your people not to interfere!"

"I've already told them!" Naruto shouted back.

The leader nodded and began to walk towards the direction he had pointed. Naruto let them have the lead before following. What they did not know was that he had already taken care of any possible interference by sending shadow clones to his companions and using Eien no Chinmoku, the technique where he eliminated sound from a particular span of space, to render them unconscious. At the moment, his imperishable replicates were guarding them.

The leader took him into a vast plateau covered with nothing but dry soil. The contours of the mountains lined the horizon beyond, and early that morning, they had the pleasing color of gray blue. The group immediately made a large circle around them, standing on the edges of the plateau in case that someone made a mistake and needed help to get back up or avoid falling over.

The leader said something and the same man translated for him. "You and your group are going with us peacefully if I defeat you."

Naruto smiled upon hearing this. "So you were not really planning to kill us."

"I was not. I need you alive. There are no rules. You can fight however you want."

"I understand." A long stare-off followed, and then they disappeared as if flames snuffed.

…

"My head is still whirling," Neji muttered as he stood up.

"Is your vision fine? That technique affects capillary flow. It makes vision blurred," Chiasa said. "You are the only one that did not totally faint. You have excellent reflexes."

"That's what I train really hard for—pinpoint sharp muscle-brain coordination. How's Aika?"

"Sleeping."

"She is?"

"You seem doubtful."

"You haven't seen yet how _good_ that girl's reflexes are."

"She seems to be enjoying it."

"Oh." He looked at Chiasa. "How did you escape the technique?"

"It's more that I anticipated something like this."

Neji frowned. His thoughts had not come almost as close, though he had been friends with Naruto for years. Yet this girl was saying that she could anticipate Naruto's impulsive tendencies even if their length of friendship had yet to exceed half a year.

"Anyway, let's go. He's fighting with the leader of the hunters."

Something clicked inside Neji's head and it stopped him. That was it. Naruto was really intending for them to escape his technique. If Aika had not managed to get away, no one would have had. Chiasa knew that, too, but she had lied to…that was the question. He was not sure.

"What are you waiting for? Come on!" Chiasa said.

_What are you thinking, Naruto?_ Neji shouted inside his head as he ran after Chiasa.

The large group of warriors was crowded at the ledge of the plateau, avidly watching something below. It was when Neji realized that not all of their pursuers were warriors. Most of the group had with them adze and rakes and household bolo. Even their builds were different from the true fighters who were distinct in posture and muscle characteristic. Was Naruto insistent on talking with them because he somehow knew? That was impossible. Naruto did not have Sharingan or Byakugan to see obscure differences, especially of a big group from long distances that he, in actuality, had missed.

He turned to look at Chiasa as she talked with an elderly among the group. The old man was wringing his hands, conspicuously trying to hide his nervousness but failing. Neji could read on his face that he wanted whatever it was that they were witnessing to stop because he was afraid that he might lose his bet, not that the old man seemed to have betted anything. In short, he cared for whoever it was down there. Armed with overbrimming curiousty and concern now, Neji made his way through the crowd and looked down. At first, he could not see anything, only periodic crumbling of stones and whirls of dust. He got frustrated overtime as what he could not see implicated a sore deficiency with his normal state of vision. For this, he activated his Byakugan, which the people around him seemed to have not noticed or had chosen to ignore.

Now he could see clearly. The tattooed man had the linear speed of Rock Lee and his agility, but Naruto was faster in his opinion. Naruto pumped punches three times as fast as the tattooed man did. The only thing was Naruto's punches were less than eighty percent accurate while the tattooed man got all his attacks in. Another thing, he could see that Naruto already had wounds on his face and arms, not to mention some tears on his clothes, while the tattooed man was still clean. This made him wonder how he managed to stay unscathed under Naruto's constant barrage of far-from-ordinary strikes.

He watched more carefully, and after a few more exchanges, he got his answer. The tattooed man was the same as Katsuo, a monk. The tattoos on his skin were mantra inscriptions as those that were on Katsuo's head. When Naruto was about to land a punch, the tattoos on the man glowed, and at the moment of impact, his skin turned into carbonized crystal, in a layman's point of view, or diamond in his. His Byakugan could see the molecular arrangement of the material and he could not have mistaken it for another.

On the other hand, Naruto's style of fighting and his decisiveness in choosing from a variety of possible moves were impressive. He would not admit this to anyone but to himself: he would not be able to get even a draw if he fought him right now. And he could see that Naruto was holding back a lot—Naruto rode up on his surfboard and soared high—or not.

Naruto called up clones, which, like him, floated on surfboards. Then, with a wave of his hand, he commanded them to attack. The clones eagerly chased down the tattooed man. Confident, the tattooed man stopped moving and changed his skin into diamond. The nearest of the clones grinned.

"Fuujin no Jutsu: Kamikaze!"

Upon contact the clone exploded, massively. Neji could see the look of utter disbelief in the tattooed man's eyes. Now, instead of confidence, he met the second clone with a touch of fear on his face. Another explosion. It opened hell even wider, bringing forth reddish yellow flame to engulf the tattooed man. The tattooed man, hurt for the first time, ran away from the third clone; but the clone, having a mind of its own, avoided unnecessary contact with land and made pursuit. The tattooed man lost his cool and only focused on steering clear from the kamikazes, so he did not have time to take notice of his surrounding. Naruto, using an earth element release, raised the ground in front of the tattooed man, creating a huge wall. The tattooed man was unprepared to meet a huge barricade ahead. It forced him to make a sharp turn, and because of its suddenness, the turn took away his balance. Three clones gained on him and delivered the damage due.

Naruto fell on his knees and heaved for air. The technique obviously ate a lot of chakra. The tattooed man slowly stood up from the crater created by the three consecutive explosions and looked up at Naruto. Blood gushed out from his ruptured skin, although, in Neji's judgment, the wounds were not that deep. The confidence, which had been replaced by a touch of fear, evolved now to angry determination. It was clear that Naruto was the first man to hurt him like that, and for that matter, he should be the last.

The tattooed man lowered his stance and put his knees closer. Neji detected a burst of chakra coming off his body as he began performing some kind of ritual dance. The air around him began to whirl. Chunks of diamond appeared and began to cover his entire body. Not like earlier, these diamonds were five times thicker and rougher than his first version. He went on that way until he became a diamond golem that had a fearsome shape but had a beautiful constitution. Neji was just beginning to calculate the golem's speed when it suddenly disappeared from where it was and reappeared in front of Naruto almost simultaneously. Neji knew that he had now a funny expression of bafflement on his face, but he did not care. The only time he had seen speed like that was when Rock Lee opened his sixth gate.

The diamond golem clapped to sandwich Naruto between its gigantic palms when, unexpectedly, this Naruto exploded. The golem landed on a rise, looking around, the explosion seemingly a breeze against its body. Three Narutos came out from nowhere and crashed with the golem. Three large explosions ensued, but the golem did not even flinch. The golem kept on looking until it noticed a presence to his right. Neji blanched when he realized that it was the real Naruto, crouching under a recessed rock alcove. He willed a warning in his direction, but of course, to no avail. Naruto feebly looked up. He was in pain, and Neji thought he saw that posture before. Naruto was clutching his heart and he was breathing through his mouth. Was it the technique or was it something else?

The golem seemed to understand the situation so it did not rush towards Naruto. It walked slowly like a man curious of a new species of animal—it had tilted its head to the side. Neji was hoping that the golem had lost interest in carrying on. But then the golem leaped off and cocked its massive arm for a coup de grace. Neji was not aware that he was crying his lungs out to tell Naruto to escape. Chiasa was also doing the same and few of the warriors were preventing her to go down. No ill intention could be seen of this gesture from their apparent enemies, only a genuine concern for Chiasa's safety. Certainly, no man would be spared if he came in between these two superwarriors.

"Naruto, get out from there! Naruto!" Neji went on shouting. Chiasa was doing her best to get away from the arms that had enclosed around her, and she was so confused that she forgot that she could easily use a ninjutsu to escape. The golem ignored the commotion, not entertaining thoughts of backing off. Naruto, on the other hand, did not show any desire of fleeing, as if he had already accepted his fate.

At the instant of contact, a black ray of light burst out in the direction of the golem. The eruption of the killing aura and the perceptible strength of the black ray made all of them stop. Where did it come from and from whom?

The black ray blinded them all for a moment, so they were surprised to see the golem reeling backwards, its right side naked of diamond armor. Neji wondered what would have happened of the man if he had not with him that nearly impenetrable defense. Neji shifted his attention to Naruto and saw a chilling sight. The left side of Naruto's face had darker skin. His left eye's sclera was black and its iris was red, while his right eye had its original color of blue. By reading his lips, Neji understood what he was saying to the golem.

"I'm trying not kill you. There is a part in me that is very eager to do that, but as long as I can, I will try to suppress it. Please consider admitting your defeat."

Neji did not have the chance to know the golem's reply for his back was on him, but basing on Naruto's disappointed reaction, the golem had chosen to continue. This became more evident when the golem reassumed his low stance and began accumulating energy again. The diamond armor rebuilt itself and in no time regained its bulk. However, before the golem could so much as move a finger, Naruto was already on him. He hit the golem with a black rasengan, intimidating with its purple hairs of electricity coming off its body. As if made of crusted sand, the diamond armor crumbled off and the golem disappeared, replaced by the brown-skinned tattooed man. The magnitude of the force pushed the tattooed man into the face of the plateau where Neji and the others were.

"Surrender now, please, for your own good. I've just realized that my time is limited when I'm in this form," Naruto said. "I might kill you if this goes on."

"Tapusin mo na ako! Sa pagkatalo kong ito, para ko na ring inilibing ang anak ko!"

"What is he saying?" Neji asked the people around him. When no one replied, he repeated his question. "What is that man saying?"

"He wants for your friend to finish him off. He can't accept his defeat because it is like burying his own son," the man on his left said.

"What happened to his son?"

"We were forced to do this, stranger. That boy saw through us and wished to settle the situation non-violently. But Talim, our leader, did not want to take any chances."

"Then let's stop them!"

The man looked at Neji. "You don't understand. Our leader doesn't speak the universal language because he abhors liberal thinking. He sticks devotedly to the old ways. I don't want to say this, but please _feel_. Feel the flow of spirit like that blond boy has done. He understood everything about us at a glance."

Should he take it as an insult? But it rang of truth. This was their territory. He was a foreigner. Right now he could do nothing but watch and trust Naruto—but he could not help gritting his teeth in impatience.

The tattooed man scraped his palms on the rock so that they bleed. He was talking, but Neji did not understand a word he said. The tattooed man began smearing his body with blood.

"Talim, tumigil ka!" the man on Neji's left said. "Ikamamatay mo yan!" The tattooed man ignored him.

"What is the matter?" Neji asked.

"Our leader is planning to use the sacred art of Kalulan. It's the art of opening the spirit gates and borrowing the strength of the gods. You are a shinobi, right?"

"Yes."

"It's the same as opening the eighth celestial gate, in other words, the Death Gate."

"What?" Neji stood up. "This is now a matter of life and death. I don't care about his beliefs."

The man held his wrist. When Neji looked down at him, he saw despair in his eyes. "I was just half-wishing and half-hoping. Nobody can stop him now, stranger."

"You are just going to let him die?"

"Except that boy. I believe he can do something about it."

_What?_ The man's faith in Naruto surprised Neji, but it did not end there. Looking around, he saw hope on the faces of the crowd. They had the same conviction as this man. How had Naruto won their hearts within a short time?

The tattooed man's skin turned crimson and veins bulged all over his body as the flow of his chakra sped up. The atmosphere was changing rapidly, too. The air was becoming thick as power built up around the place.

"I can speak your language, too, but I choose not," the tattooed man said. "And to stop myself from the temptation, I open my sentences with 'Hindi kita maintindihan,' or 'I don't understand' when I speak to foreigners."

"You are a very honest man," Naruto said.

"I figured that a foreigner might as well know before I take us both to hell."

"That's not a very nice thing to hear from a very honest man." He smiled and the tattooed man smiled back.

"If you survive this, please save my son."

The tattooed man screamed as if in great pain, and then vanished with a drum-roll of dust. The dark half of Naruto's face began to eat away its other half until Naruto's right eye was the only one remaining of his original appearance.

"Save him yourself. I'll be the backup," Naruto said, and vanished.

The explosion was the biggest of the day and it destroyed in seconds structures that nature had erected painstakingly for centuries. Naruto had caught the head of the tattooed man in midair and slammed it down. The clash of energies brought about by superhuman speed had caused the massive explosion.

"Is it finished?" Neji asked.

"It is," the man on his left said, smiling. "He saved him before it's too late."

"I don't get you."

"Talim did not have the chance to activate his Death Gate since the boy stopped him before he could." The man stood up. "The fight is over. Your friend has won."

There was a collective gasp from the crowd. When Neji turned to see what caused it, he saw that the tattooed man was back on his feet, and his right arm, which was covered again with diamond, was glowing red with chakra. The table had turned. Naruto was now the one lying on his stomach. The tattooed man staggered towards Naruto. His breathing was shallow. Seeing this, Neji could not hold himself anymore. The tattooed man raised his fist and brought it down towards Naruto's head. The next thing Neji knew, he had moved.

Neji was wide-eyed as he watched some of the hunters stood barricading Naruto while some held their leader back. Moreover, among the brown bodies in front of him, Neji noticed a new face, an old man's face filled with tribal tattoos. He had a hand on the tattooed man's chest.

"I hope you find it in your heart to forgive us," the old man said. "Please forgive my son, and my tribe."

Now Setsuko, still in her Sage Mode, pushed through the crowd. "We have reached some kind of deal."

The old man touched something extending out of his chest. Slowly, it materialized into an iron chain. "Your friend here was too convincing to refuse." The old man smiled. "Welcome to Kalulan."

…

When Yumiko woke up, she found herself inside a glass coffin. Not a second after, the glass coffin disintegrated into dust of pink light and faded in air. It was like her waking up was a signal for it to leave. She felt under her right palm a hard object and realized that it was the black katana her father's samurai Yarui had given her. She pulled the katana out of its sheath to expose a little of its blade. The black blade gleamed under the available sunlight, seeming to promise loyalty and impeccable service. Satisfied, she pushed it back with a click and tied it around her waist.

She looked around. The sky was but a cluster of green leaves that expanded up to build a nearly impenetrable ceiling. If not for small gaps that dappled the sunlight trying to seep through, the place would have been in pitch darkness. She got down of the slab that was on a rubble-built platform that was in the center of a vast, still lake. The dappled rays made the lake gleam dark green, a sentiment of its depth. She turned to her right, all but large trunks. She turned to her left…the same. She was on a dry place in a thick forest that let but little sunlight in. She knew this place too well to forget. This had been their last destination, the Temple of Preservation.

"Yumiko? Yumiko, the Crimson Queen, is that you?" a woman's voice said.

Yumiko turned and for the first time noticed other glass coffins a few meters away from her. There were eight others. Yumiko walked to the seventh coffin and peered into it. She squinted and made out the face of the loveliest short-haired girl she had seen. "You are Akane, the Healer, right?"

"Yes. It's good to see you…again. How did you get out of your enclosure?"

"I got my freedom."

"Do you mean that your Jinchuuriki attained Yuujo…and chose the second form?"

Yumiko smiled, proudly. "He is an amazing man."

"I can see it in your eyes…that you admire him quite a lot. Anyway, could you get me out of here?"

Yumiko's face became grim. She put a hand on the hilt of her sword. "Do you remember our oath?"

"Yes, but you also know what I'm like when I'm choosing a master."

"I understand. I'll just need your help to get away from this temple."

"Not so bad a deal. Okay. I accept."

"You will have my allegiance if you get me out of here," another girl said. This came from the fourth coffin. In there was a muscular girl with eyes as black as Yumiko's sword.

"Help me out of here, love. I promise I'll go wherever you go," another woman said. The woman had olive skin and she wore a cream, middle-eastern styled cloak and tunic appropriate for the hot climate of the deserts.

Yumiko did not want to waste time and so slashed the coffins open. To give them back their chakra, she broke the urns at the feet of the coffins. She had had her own urn, but it had disappeared with her glass coffin a while ago. The Sage of Six Paths had gotten from them a part of their spirits and used the urns as containers. Once a Biju was out of its Jinchuuriki, the existence where the Biju had rooted would come back to its original body. However, only those Bijus whose masters had attained and chosen the second form of Yuujo could go out of the sealed coffin without an external application of force. The Sage of Six Paths had been an optimist and a notorious prankster. Often he had cheated on fate and often he had succeeded…like today.

"It's so good to be moving again!" Akane said. "Thank you, Yumiko."

The muscular girl was eyeing the other coffins. Right now, only the eighth coffin had a person inside. "It's a pity the others chose to pass on," she said.

"They chose it with a smile on their faces. Nothing to be sad about, Amaya," said the olive-skinned girl.

"Should we leave him, too?" Amaya said, pertaining to the eight-tails.

"His Jinchuuriki is strong. It will be long before he wakes up. Besides, we don't need to worry about _him,_" Akane said. "Let's get going. Our savior seems to be in a hurry."

These girls, all blessed with beautiful faces, had, like Yumiko, engraved their names in history. Amaya was the legendary ironsmith who had created the Rashomon or the Hell Gate, which was now considered the strongest direct defense against Class-S techniques. She was reputed to have travelled all the beasts' worlds and forged for the kings monumental structures that were yet to be surpassed in strength and design. She had built Monkey King Enka's fortress that Hiruzen had summoned to defend himself against Naruto's kamikaze back in Hensen no Kuusho. Because of her creations, people called her the Iron Forger.

The olive-skinned girl was called Toshiko. She had been the fiercest assassin the East had ever known. She helped to overthrow a long running dynasty in the Middle East that enslaved millions of families by killing every single member of its clan. She wrote the book "The Art of Assassination" that black-ops and ANBUs used as their primary guide for covert operations and tactics. Despite Kirigakure's claim that it had originated from them, Zabuza's Kirigakure no Jutsu or the Hidden Mist Technique had been created by Toshiko. This technique, being a water element release, made a sensation in the Middle East which prompted shinobi art authorities to give her the moniker Stealth Death.

The last one, the only girl that could match Yumiko in feminine charm, was Akane the Healer. Her name became known in the world when she healed the Emperor of Sanuchin who had an incurable disease. Without her, the Sage of Six Paths would not have been able to tear the Jubi into nine separate and weaker entities. Since the Jubi was immortal, the Sage of Six Paths needed to match it with immortality and he did this by using Akane's ability of inducing cell regeneration at incredible speed with a single command. Nobody knew how she did this even the Sage of Six Paths, so historians alluded to her as being a goddess in human form.

"I'm neutral," Akane said, "but I want you to know that I don't like the Crimson Queen."

"My hatred are all gone, Healer. The Crimson Queen is dead."

Akane extended her hand. "I'll see that for myself."

Yumiko shook it. "You seem to have shed yours as well, but I'll be careful around you, too."

Both smiled at each other.

…

At last, they reached Kumogakure. Sasuke eyed the steep mountains surrounding the village and felt a deepening uneasiness as the familiar low thunder clouds entered his line of sight. It was not the kind of uneasiness that accompanied nervousness. It was more out of concern for Killer Bee. He was a close friend of Naruto's and he did not want to do something that would hurt Naruto anymore. _If I could only do something…_

The First Son stood beside him. "I expect you to perform brilliantly for this final test, Sasuke."

Sasuke sighed and walked on. His final test, as Madara had decided, was to bring the eight-tails back.

_To be continued…_


	51. Chapter 51

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I'm just a fan with some ideas.

**Author's Note:** I've already added Chapter 50, but I only replaced the announcement with it so it might not have appeared on your alert list. Please check it out if you haven't read it yet. Thanks!

…

Chapter 51: Suspicions on Chiasa

"Now I want to hear your story," Naruto said. He had woken up after sleeping for two hours. The old man in front of him was Agila (Kalulan for eagle), the Chief, and the warrior he had fought earlier was Talim (Kalulan for blade), Agila's son. Talim was now resting inside his tent. His life was not in danger anymore, but he got seriously injured that the tribe's healer prohibited him to move around for a couple of weeks.

Agila put some crushed tobacco in his pipe and lit it. He sipped some smoke. "I can feel the affinity of wind from you. Sit down, young man."

Naruto sat down. The heat coming off from the fire at the center of the tent was pleasant to the skin. The musky smell of the tanned buffalo leather the tent was made of gave off a nostalgic feeling of coziness and uneventful days in the past. How Naruto wished that he could freeze time.

"Do you mind my smoking?"

"It's okay. Old man Hiruzen, my late grandfather, used to smoke."

"Hiruzen…are you talking about Hiruzen of the Sarutobi Clan?"

"You know him?"

"I met him once when he was in the Capital City. I was then a merchant. He was a young ninja that time. Now I know why you are so strong."

"He became the Third Hokage of our village."

"I knew he would go far. You are not blood related, aren't you?"

"No."

"I see." Agila tapped the tobacco ash out his pipe and refilled it with a fresh pinch.

Naruto clenched his fists over his folded knees. "Ojii-san, was it the Left Wing that kidnapped Talim-san's son?"

Agila almost dropped his pipe. "Ah, Left Wing…that group, yes. I heard of them."

"Ojii-san, I need to know."

Agila stood up and looked up at the sky through the smoke hole of the tent. He smoked, trying to ease his tensed muscles.

"Ojii-san, please…"

Agila finally relented, but he could not look Naruto in the eye. "Son, is the Uchiha girl a close friend of yours?"

"Are you talking about Chiasa? What is this? Do you know something about her?"

Agila turned to him with a stern face. "Naruto…"

Naruto's eyes gradually widened as he listened to Agila. The old man was telling something that would never be believed on first delivery. But then, he had no reason to lie to him. His grandson had been kidnapped; his son was almost killed. Would someone in his shoes do something unnecessary, hoping for something to change from it?

Naruto walked out of the tent, dejected and confused. Clenching his fists, he decided to leave Agila's revelation hanging until he found some proof. "First, I need to find Chiasa."

Inside the tent, Agila could hear in his head over and over Kalua's last words: _Break his heart, old man. Break his heart and I'll heal yours._

…

Naruto did not see Chiasa the whole day.

…

The forest was submerged in the darkness of the night, but Saki, having been trained as a black op shinobi, easily found her way through the thicket. She reached the bank of the river, and there, with her feet daggling in the water, was Midori. Luka, Midori's white fox, climbed onto Saki's shoulder and licked her face.

"So there you are. I was beginning to worry for you," Saki said.

Midori managed a sad smile. "Hi, Mom."

"Hey, what's the matter? You've been quiet ever since this morning. Did that monster hurt you in some way?"

"It's nothing, Mom. I'm just confused about something he said about you and Dad."

Saki was suddenly grabbed by fear. "W-what did he say to you?"

Midori looked out into the breadth of the river as if to study the serene flow of the water. She did not answer for a long time. Saki quietly breathed to calm herself, and when she was confident that her palms were not cold anymore, she sat down next to Midori and held her hand.

"Mom, do you swear not to lie to me if ever I tell you what's troubling me?" Midori intently looked into Saki's face.

"Is this something really serious?"

"Yes, Mom, and I have to hear an affirmative answer from you."

Saki once again drew a calming breath. "Okay. I'll try to answer as true as possible."

Midori squeezed her hand. "What kind of answer is that? Mom, I need you to be positive."

Saki steeled herself for the onslaught, but she forced herself to be cheerful. "Sure! Is this about love?"

Midori couldn't help but smile. Even so, it was gone before Saki could realize it. "It's not about love. It's about us, Mom, our family." Midori waited in hesitation. Then, as if deciding she had no way out, she went on with it. "Mom, are you really my real mother?"

Saki gripped Midori's hand so tight that Midori let out a soft groan. Midori ignored the pain. Saki's reaction was enough to tell her what she wanted to know. Tsuneo had not answered, but comparing his reaction earlier to Saki's reaction now, it was unmistakable.

"Did…did that man tell…?" Saki could not finish for her throat closed and tears streamed down her eyes. The next words that came out her mouth were, "I'm sorry."

Midori, now also crying, turned and embraced Saki. She knew that they were not at fault here, and everything had been done out of necessity. Whatever happened, she still loved Tsuneo and Saki. What would have become of her, she wondered, if she had not gone to train under Luka's tutelage? Without the strength she had now, she could have lashed out on these surrogates and hurt them badly. She was grateful that the timing had been good; else she might have hated them for real. With these thoughts in her head, she embraced Saki tighter, telling her indirectly that she would not let them go that easily.

Saki invited Midori to go back to camp with her, but the girl refused. She said that she wanted to enjoy the night for a little while. Saki had wanted to have a banter with Midori on the way back, but she understood why Midori asked to stay. You cannot expect from a young girl to accept such truth with a shrug of nonchalance, especially from a serious girl like Midori.

A few minutes later, Hashirama showed up. He offered an apologetic smile to Midori. "I'm sorry it had to be so sudden."

"That was a tricky ploy. I'm amazed my sister had missed this."

"Tsuneo and Saki have truly loved the both of you. Even a gifted child like Hiromi will never notice." Hashirama heaved a sigh. "So, how does it stand with you?"

Midori tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear. "It broke my heart, to tell you honestly, Oji-chan. Did our parents hate us that much that they decided to give us off?"

"Yes."

"Oji-chan!"

Hashirama chuckled. "All I can say is I haven't seen any man cry as your father did when he was handing you over to me."

"That's good to hear. Thank you for sharing it with me."

Hashirama put a hand on Midori's head. "You will meet them soon, Midori. You will realize how great they really are."

…

"I'm here," Chiasa said, her five-tomoe Sharingan glowing in the darkness. "Where are you?"

"So you came." Kalua's voice reverberated in the hollowness of the cave.

"I brought you the Jinchuuriki. It's now time that you give me back my sister."

"You're so devious. That's why you are my favorite."

"Give me back my sister!"

"Silence!"

Chiasa cringed. She took two steps back, hanging her head like an obedient child.

"What made the change, Chiasa? You are not hesitating this time."

Chiasa remained silent.

"I want to know what's on your mind. Why betray him this easily?" When Chiasa did not answer, Kalua came and grabbed her neck. "I can break your neck on my whim, Chiasa. Don't try me."

Chiasa glared at him. "He will defeat you."

It was now Kalua's turn to step back. "I see. I have to trust you on that, then."

"My sister, where is she?"

"I'll give you two lives in exchange for his life. Can you do it? Can you kill him for them?"

"You are asking me to kill Naruto?"

"Exactly."

"I will never defeat him!"

"There are plenty of ways, Chiasa. After all, he seems vulnerable next to a naked woman."

"You knew?"

"I know everything about you." He turned around and looked over his shoulder. "The Kalulan Tribe is a formidable force to reckon with. We are ordered to annihilate them. Another member of the Left Wing is coming in two days. If you get me the Jinchuuriki before he arrives, I can ignore the order. Isn't that a good source of motivation?"

…

_What should I do?_ Chiasa almost had no energy to walk back to the village. The trees became her pillars of support as she stumbled down through the forest. _Why do I have to choose like this? Naruto has been so kind to me. He showed me the other side of life. Why does it have to be him?_ She tripped on a jutting rock and she would have fallen if not for the arms that suddenly grabbed her.

"Easy now," a familiar voice said. Chiasa glanced up. It was the big, bald man Inuzuka Katsuo. "We have been looking for you. Where have you been?"

Chiasa eased away from Katsuo. "I was patrolling the area."

Katsuo studied her for awhile. "You should have told us or, at least, you should have taken me. I'm good with my nose."

"I'm familiar with this forest and I have my Sharingan to help me with reconnaissance. But thank you for your concern."

"We are comrades here, okay. I don't trust you completely, yet, but Naruto cares for you a lot. It's okay if you will not do it for us, but please consider his feelings."

Chiasa grimaced, as if stung.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Chiasa said. "I'll remember that."

Back at the village, the ashen face of Naruto made her feel even guiltier.

"Chiasa, where have you gone to? I was worried sick about you!"

"I'm sorry," Chiasa said in a little voice. It was the least she could do to suppress a smile. She knew that Naruto had been worried, but worried sick?

"You were gone for one day! Why didn't you tell me that you were going somewhere?"

"I acted on instinct. Sorry."

Naruto let out a long sigh. "Never do that again, okay? I learned that the Left Wing was the one behind the kidnapping of the Chief's grandson. They are close. All of us need to be careful."

"I understand."

Naruto let out another sigh, but this one of relief. "Are you hungry? There's some porridge and meatballs over there. It's your fault that I couldn't properly eat last night, so, as punishment, you will eat with me." As if afraid that she might run, Naruto grabbed her hand and pulled her towards a table.

_How will I be able to betray this man, let alone kill?_

…

Naruto observed Chiasa as they ate. At first, what he could see was only a pretty girl. If Chiasa would only tie her hair even in a simple ponytail, it would emphasize the soft lines of her face. Nevertheless, her unbrushed hair was not a factor for someone, especially a man, not to get attracted to her. You will want to kiss her if you see her lips.

Chiasa seemed to notice his stare for she suddenly blushed. She looked down on her bowl of porridge, tucking her hands between her thighs. She glanced up, and when she saw that Naruto was still staring at her, she retrieved her gaze and busied herself with watching little children playing around the camp fires. Naruto let out a soft chuckle that made Chiasa a notch redder.

"Stop it, N-Naruto," Chiasa said. "I will not be able to finish my bowl if you keep staring at me."

"Sorry," Naruto said. They went on eating in silence.

Awhile later, a Kalulan woman approached their table.

"Excuse me, Uzumaki-san," the woman said. "Talim-dono wants to talk with you…" she gazed at Chiasa, "…alone."

"Tell him that I'll bring Chiasa with me," Naruto said without looking up. Chiasa stiffened.

"But Talim-dono said—"

"He will understand. I'm sure of that."

The woman's brows furrowed. "Of course, Uzumaki-san." Before leaving, she shot Chiasa a hostile look.

Chiasa waited until the woman was gone before she spoke. "Naruto, I think the woman is right—"

"Don't run, Chiasa."

Chiasa looked at Naruto. The vapor coming off her bowl of porridge continuously warmed her face, but she felt cold. "Did the Chief tell you something else other than the Left Wing?"

"He did."

Chiasa bit her lower lip. "About me?"

Naruto reached out and held her hand. "I'm your friend, Chiasa, and I don't abandon my friends."

"But I—"

Naruto stood up. "No matter how they think about you, I will always be on your side."

Naruto and Chiasa reached a large tent. The tent was made of buffalo hide. Colorful images of eagles, buffalos, and lizards decorated the surface of the tent and at the entrance hung some buffalo skulls. The woman got out to get them after Naruto announced their arrival.

"Talim-dono is waiting for you," the woman said, refusing to look in Chiasa's direction. "Come in."

Talim was sitting crossed legged on a pelt of a large snow bear. The carpet was large enough for three people and Talim invited them to join him. Naruto and Chiasa accepted his invitation, Chiasa choosing to sit a feet behind Naruto. Kindling burned at the four corners of the tent, providing them with comfortable warmth. The woman entered the tent and served them a platter of grilled buffalo meat.

"This is Maya, my wife," Talim said.

"Pleased to meet you, Maya-san," Naruto said. The woman bowed and excused herself.

Talim shot Chiasa a sympathetic gaze and sighed. "I know how you feel, Uchiha-san. We are in the same situation." Chiasa hung her head. "It has been a long time since I used this language so I'm asking you to tolerate my mistakes."

"You're doing quite well for someone who despises Zensekai no Kotoba," Naruto said.

"To tell you the truth, I did not think that I would have a chance to use this again. You are one of the few foreigners I talked with."

"It's an honor to be thought of as deserving. Why did you call for me, Talim-san?"

"To put it bluntly, I want you to leave as soon as possible."

Naruto frowned in confusion. "I thought you needed help in saving your son."

"It's the village's problem, Uzumaki-san, _my _problem. The Left Wing kidnapped my son and forced us to attack you." Talim hesitated for a few moments. "I'll be honest. The reason I want to talk to you alone is because I don't trust Uchiha-san. She is—"

"It's true," Chiasa said, cutting Talim off. "I was the one who kidnapped his son, Naruto. I killed all the warriors with him, including his brother, when they were trying to retrieve the little boy from me. Only Talim-san and his wife survived. Kalua threatened to kill my sister if I did not obey. He forced me to do it."

"I was surprised that she was with you, Uzumaki-san, but I know you have your reasons," Talim said.

"I want to help her," Naruto said. "Chiasa is a good person."

Chiasa flinched. "I'm not a good person," she muttered.

"You were an agent of the Left Wing, right?" Talim asked.

"I was."

"I thought so. Does that Kalua guy still have your sister?"

"Yes."

"That's my point, Uzumaki-san," Talim said. "The Left Wing doesn't know that you passed through this forest. They had only given us two specific demands: to stop any army from passing through this forest and to kill a foreigner with golden hair and blue eyes. I don't know what importance your death is to them, but we needed to do it to ensure my son's survival."

"I have been Left Wing's spy for years," Chiasa said. "Before Naruto took me in, my assignment was to spy on the heiresses of Kogiwara. My last report included you, Naruto, and subjectively, I told them that you were a grave threat. The demands on the Kalulan were such because Lotus-sama was originally planning to use this forest to get to Ajit. And because Kogiwara caught wind of Nue's plan to reopen the Narrow Path, the Left Wing was ordered by King Kagitora to close Hashaboro, the shortest route to Ajit. An earthquake destroyed the main passageway ten years ago and only those who know the trail passing through the forest could get to Ajit by Hashaboro. However, most experienced fighters know of this path and King Kagitora was aware that it would be dangerous if he left it unchecked."

"Uzumaki-san, we can tell the Left Wing that you haven't been here," Talim said. "I assure you that no one in my village will tell on you."

"What about the traces of our fight?"

"We can just say that another group of warrior tried to cross the forest. This is the safest way, Uzumaki-san. I want them to think that you used another path. If they learn that we could not stop you—"

Naruto shook his head. "I will not let you do that for me. I'll face them."

"But Uzumaki-san—"

"I've met a lot of people like them in the past and I know that they will not spare your child or Chiasa's sister even if it won't benefit them any longer. I'll not let them have their way."

"Uzumaki-san…"

"I'll save your son."

Talim suddenly prostrated himself in front of Naruto. "Thank you…thank you very much."

Before he saw Talim's wet face, Naruto excused himself and walked out of the tent. "Chiasa, you will be my guide. Never leave my side."

_To be continued…_


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Subterfuge

Even though he had told all of those things, Naruto was still confused. He did not know where to start. Chiasa had admitted that she was the one who kidnapped Talim's son. What was his proof then that Chiasa was playing straight with them?

"Naruto, I got something to tell you," Chiasa said, as they walked along the path far from the tents. Naruto had deliberately chosen to walk far from people.

Naruto stopped walking. He closed his eyes as if to catch a surge of pain. "Chiasa…"

Chiasa's voice softened. "No…please don't hate me."

"They did their duty and you did yours. You were just stronger than them."

A sob escaped Chiasa's throat. "I don't know what to do anymore, Naruto. Help me."

Naruto, unable to think of anything to say, pulled Chiasa's head to his chest. "I'll help you. I'll do everything I can."

Chiasa put her arms around his waist and unabashedly cried on his chest.

…

"He's in," Setsuko told Neji. "The idiot is playing hero again."

They were inside Neji's tent with Katsuo and Tenten. Lee, Aika, and Kushina were outside, exploring the village.

Neji's usually cool face crunched up into a grimace. "Naruto…" he said in a harsh whisper. " What about what you overheard at the Chief's tent yesterday?"

"Chiasa admitted to it."

"Details?"

Setsuko told him a summarized version of Naruto and Talim's conversation.

Tenten stopped spinning her kunai around her finger and thrust it into the face of the crate she was sitting on. "Something is amiss. When did this happen? I mean when did she kidnap the child?"

"It must have been before we were sent here," Neji said. "Except for last night, I haven't let Chiasa out my sight."

"They already knew that we would be taking this route? What are they, psychics?"

"This setup was meant for Hashirama-sensei and the others. It seems that Chiasa brought us here on purpose. The Left Wing must have gotten information about Naruto and decided that he would be a large obstacle in their path. Naruto was their target."

"Do you think that she went to see them last night?"

Neji wrung his hands. "There is a high possibility."

"I don't know how it happened," Katsuo said. "I suddenly lost her scent. She seemed to have disappeared altogether."

"What I'm more afraid of is the fact that she is an Uchiha. It will be hard to notice if we are already under her Genjutsu or not. Among Genjutsu users, the Uchiha are the most powerful. Even a Yuuga like me will have a hard time detecting it."

"What do you plan on doing if that's what happened?" Tenten asked.

Neji looked up, determined. "We will do what we are here for to do, even if it means killing Chiasa."

…

Their arrival caused a large commotion in the Sumiragi estate. Lady Yoshie and Lord Hiroshi had been so happy to see Princess Kaguya. When the two learned that they were friends with Naruto, they welcomed them as royal guests. A banquet was immediately served and they stuffed themselves so as not to be rude. The whole day of their arrival became a festive one.

Shikamaru went out to smoke under the trees in the backyard of their lodgings. The chirping of crickets filled the air. It was a wonder how the people of the Sumiragi Estate could stop celebrating at the appointed time. Not even the usually loud voices of drunks could be heard at the moment. As if to appreciate the comforting silence, Shikamaru inhaled a lungful of smoke and eased up on a protruding root of a tree.

"It's a good thing you decided to go with Kaguya-hime," Shino said, coming out from the shadow.

"Shino. Could you do something about that habit of yours of just suddenly appearing from nowhere?"

"Forgive me. Am I _bugging_ you?"

Shikamaru gave him a look. The Aburame clan, who used _bugs_ as their main weapon, was a tad sensitive compared to ordinary people. "Is that question filled?"

Shino did not answer his question. Instead, he said, "So you noticed her odd behavior, too?"

"I've seen something like this before. Sakura is showing signs of obsession. The best move is to keep her away from Naruto, especially now that girls are always around him."

"I agree. It's a big help that Ino is with us."

"Momoko seems to notice the situation, too. Ever since our parting with Princess Yori, she hasn't mentioned Naruto's name in front of Sakura."

"Yes." Shino paused a moment. "What do you think would happen if Sasuke suddenly showed up?"

"I don't know. I've already considered that possibility, but the workings of a human heart is not like Shogi. You cannot push a piece to experiment for an outcome."

"Sometimes I think that having a girlfriend is not that bad."

Shikamaru laughed. "Let's forget about them for now. The Sumiragi Clan is planning on searching for the Alliance. It seems that they are thinking of formally severing their ties with Kogiwara."

"After all that happened to Kaguya-hime and her family, what else is there to base their loyalty from?"

Shikamaru puffed some smoke. "It is as you say."

…

Neji had instructed Setsuko and Katsuo to be vigilant for Naruto and Chiasa—especially for Chiasa. Setsuko, being a Wolf Sage, could hide her presence and spy on them from a distance, while Katsuo could track their smells.

"I will tell the others about what we've decided upon," Neji added, standing up.

Tenten grabbed Neji's arm before he could go out of the tent. "Don't tell Kushina-san and Aika. They might do something risky. Let's do this by ourselves."

"What of Lee?"

"I'll tell him. For now, you three focus on keeping the two on tight leash. And another thing, Neji. This is a good opportunity to ask about the Narrow Path. The Chief, I'm certain, is knowledgeable about it."

"Okay." Neji turned to them. "Don't let Naruto or Chiasa find out that we are spying on them."

"I'll go into the forest," Setsuko said. "With Sage Mode, I can use the chakra of the trees to sense moving targets."

"How long will you be able to maintain Sage Mode?" Neji asked.

"I can pretty much maintain it for two days, immobile."

Neji had to stop himself from showing his amazement. When had the girl grown this strong? "That's good news. Katsuo, what is their current position?"

Katsuo sniffed the air. "They are by the river, three hundred meters from here. They are not moving."

"Let's go. We don't want them wandering further."

"Roger," the others said in unison.

Chief Agila was checking on Talim the moment Neji arrived at his tent, but a comely elder woman ushered him inside and told him to feel at home. The kindling in the center of the tent still burned and the smoke coming from it was pleasant-smelling. It made Neji wonder what kind of wood was used as kindling. He took the opportunity to look around. Agila's tent was made of buffalo hide. The craftsmanship was flawless, but Neji noticed that it was recently constructed as well, like all the other tents. Were they a nomadic tribe?

"Oh, Hyuuga-san, good morning," Agila said as he entered. "I'm sorry. Did I take too long?"

Neji stood up. "No, sir. I just arrived."

"Sit down, sit down. Havana, could you bring in some tea?" A girl's voice responded politely from outside. Agila walked across Neji and sat.

Neji sat down. "I apologize for the early intrusion."

"You are more than welcome to my quarters. Do not apologize. What can I do for you?"

"I'm just here to ask you some questions."

"Would you mind?" Agila said, showing his pipe.

"No."

Agila lit his pipe and smoked. "What do you want to know?"

"Mostly about the Narrow Path, but, if it's not so much trouble, can I ask if you are a nomadic tribe?"

Agila tapped his pipe on his knee and looked at Neji. "We are not."

"What? What do you mean? Did someone…"

"Hyuuga-san, I think you don't need to know the details. This is a tribal issue. I'm sorry I cannot speak anymore about it. Now, about the Narrow Path…"

"Those bastards," Neji muttered.

"You don't need to worry about us, Hyuuga-san," Agila said, offering Neji a reassuring smile.

"But you have small ones in here!"

Agila's voice hardened. "We get by, don't worry."

"Of course. I'm sorry if I'm nosing in too much."

"We don't want to involve you in our problem. As you said so yourself, your group is just passing by."

"Yes. I'm sorry," Neji said in a small voice.

"Agila-sama, I brought you your tea," Havana said from outside. Agila let her in, and after she had served the tea, she excused herself.

Smiling, Agila puffed some smoke. "Where do you want me to start?"

Neji sipped some tea from his cup. "I want to know why this Narrow Path seems so special. That's my original objective, anyway."

"Honestly, I haven't seen this Narrow Path before, so I won't be able to describe it for you. However, I know some of its history."

Neji leaned back a little, straightening his back, to make himself alert.

"The Narrow Path was originally a monk's valley. Until the last Kingdom Wars, twenty-six years ago, it was the area where the largest monastery of Sanmyaku was located. However, an unfortunate event happened. The desperate King of the Kingdom of Nue sent in his warriors through the Narrow Path. The move was successful and Nue was able to conquer two cities in Kogiwara. The monks eventually decided that the current situation of using the Narrow Path as the conduit for Nue's forces would put them in danger. But they were too late. Before they could notify the King, Kogiwara launched an all-out attack on the Narrow Path. After that day, the Narrow Path mysteriously disappeared from Sanmyaku."

Neji frowned. "Literally disappeared?"

"Yes. For ten years, all the kingdoms in Sanmyaku tried to search for the lost valley, until a merchant discovered an underwater tunnel at the bottom of Armada—the largest and the most dangerous river here in Sanmyaku. The kingdoms approved expeditions with the goal of finding out what was beyond that tunnel." Agila stopped and took in a lungful of smoke, seemingly troubled.

"And?"

"As far as I know, not one has returned yet from those expeditions, even bones."

"What if they were wrong? What if the tunnel doesn't lead to the Narrow Path?"

"Geographically, the location of the tunnel is only a few latitudes away from the Narrow Path. It is a perfect passage. Explorers, surveyors, and map makers agree on this."

"But it's not enough. Do they realize that they have been wasting lives for a baseless assumption?"

"Actually, Hyuuga-san, it hasn't been baseless. Even though there wasn't a single _person_ to have ever come back, a soldier of Nue was able to send a letter across. The content of the letter was never exposed to the public, but rumors say that it contained a short description of what they had found beyond the tunnel. Some say that the place was filled with ghosts; some say that it was hell itself. However, these are mere speculations. Only the bearer of the letter and the soldier himself know of the truth."

"And the Queen is organizing another expedition to open the Narrow Path despite all of these?"

"We are in war, and she is not forcing anyone. She is giving an unbelievable amount of reward, so I think a lot has already come to try for it."

"We will be at risk if we continue."

"Hyuuga-san, if you may allow me, I think Uzumaki-san might succeed."

"You don't have anything to back that up."

"His level of chakra is incredible…and that inscription tattoo on his side—Tell me, Hyuuga-san, do you know where he got that?"

"Do you mean the summoning mark for the Queen of Serpents?"

Agila let out a shuddering breath and smiled. An excited glint appeared on his eyes. "Then my suspicions are true. He is the Second Savior of Sanmyaku."

"Somewhat, but he doesn't approve of that title."

Agila looked into Neji's eyes. "He can do it, Hyuuga-san. Please, let him try."

"Wait. There is something in your tone. You haven't told me everything, yet, have you?"

Agila refilled his pipe and sucked in smoke. "No. Hyuuga-san, how did you enter Sanmyaku?"

"Through a wormhole."

"Do you know why?"

"I don't know the details, but it seems Sanmyaku is a closed country."

"It has been for twenty-six years ever since the disappearance of the Narrow Path."

Neji was wide-eyed. "What?"

"The Narrow Path was not only a passage that connected Nue and Kogiwara. It also served as the only passage out of the cordillera, out of the country. The Gate of Sanmyaku, which was temporarily closed due to the war, was permanently destroyed when Kogiwara attacked. If Uzumaki-san managed to open the Narrow Path, we might finally be freed from this…this unlikely prison."

Neji gritted his teeth. If Naruto caught wind of this, even the whole Hyuuga Clan would never be able to stop him. Neji did not speak for a long time. The kindling crackled and glowing embers shot out from the fire like red fireflies. The voices of children seeped in through the tanned hide—all smiles, all laughter, and all fun— oblivious of the chaos brought about by the predicament that Neji, unfortunately, had to face. After an almost ten minutes of silence, Neji finally spoke.

"We need all the information we can gather about the Narrow Path, then."

"Neji-san…"

Neji smiled. "Naruto will never stay put when he hears of this. All I can do is support him as best as I can."

"Very well. I'll tell you one thing that I've been keeping all this time. The monks were worshippers of the Sage of Six Paths. It is highly possible that the disappearance of the Narrow Path, the impossible torrent of the Armada, and the mysterious barrier that keeps intruders from escaping are due to forbidden techniques that the Sage of Six Paths handed down to them. It is thus my conclusion that the only people who might be able to open the Narrow Path are those who are special."

"Like Naruto…"

"The Queen of Serpents has the ability to neutralize ninjutsu or sorcery and is tough enough to defend against direct attacks. She is virtually invincible. To be able to subdue such an indomitable creature and make it a servant under you is something close to impossible, Hyuuga-san. Doesn't it tell you anything?"

"I know where you are coming from, and as a friend and colleague, I've seen his greatness many times before. However, you cannot deny that this Narrow Path, considering the last information you've shared with me, is a hard one. We are here to ensure his safety and I need to consider and reconsider conditions before we move on a step."

"I know, Hyuuga-san, but please…please give him a chance. Give the future generation of Sanmyaku a door to the outside world." Agila bowed down in front of Neji. "For a long time I've been praying for someone like him to come. I don't want to wait any longer, Hyuuga-san, for it will take another life time."

Neji sighed, and then smiled. "I already said yes, sir. In behalf of Uzumaki Naruto, I accept the responsibility."

…

Neji walked out of the tent a little over an hour later. He had made sure to get answers to all his questions. Agila gave them as best as he could, including information that he would never share easily to just anyone. The only thing Agila had withheld was the reason they were itinerant for the mean time.

As he walked back to his tent, he saw Naruto and Chiasa approaching from the distance. He stopped and waited for them.

"Neji," Naruto greeted. "Come with me. I have something to tell Chief Agila. It's very important. Your presence is needed."

As if on cue, Agila ducked out from his tent. He looked at Naruto, read his face, understood, and then looked at Chiasa. "Have you decided, my child?"

"Yes," Chiasa said, diffidently. Her eyes welled up. "It's the least thing I could do."

"Come. The whole village must hear of this." He turned to his servant Havana. "Tell the heads that I'm calling for an assembly at the center of the village."

"Yes, Master."

…

Kushina was sitting under a tree, her red hair shining under the dappled light coming through the leaves. She watched the people in the distance, going about doing their chores. By the look on her face, it was easily conclusive that she was depressed. And it was about her son.

A couple ducked out from a tent, and the wife lovingly kissed her husband on the lips. Kushina blushed. She tried to remember Minato, but the face she saw was that of Naruto's. She shook her head violently, telling herself that it was improper. However, instead of going away, her daydream worsened, and now she saw herself kissing her own son on the lips. Kushina shrieked, causing the couple to turn to her, brows rising in inquiry. Kushina sheepishly smiled and mouthed an apology. The couples bowed, but the confusion did not leave their countenance. Kushina could only sigh. She wished Tenten had not pointed it out to her, so that she had not pondered it over. Only a day had passed since her conversation with Tenten, but it was enough time for her to admit that Tenten was telling the truth. She was indeed in love with Naruto.

Now what should she do? She could never tell this to Naruto whatever happened. Naruto knew her as her mother. He would surely think that she was insane. She still remembered how he denied her being his girlfriend in front of Setsuko. It did not take a genius to imagine how he would react if she suddenly confessed her feelings to him. She covered her face with her hands, let out a frustrated cry, and kicked the grass like a child in tantrum.

"Kushina-oba-chan, Naruto-onii-chan is calling for us," a cute voice said. Kushina parted her fingers to see who it was. Aika smiled at her. "What are you doing here? And where is Lee-senpai?"

Kushina sighed, standing up. "Help me up, sweetheart," she said, raising her arms. Aika pulled her up. "Lee left me a moment ago. He said he wanted to train in the woods."

"Is that so? Anyway, come on. It seems important 'cause the whole village has been called by the Chief."

They started to walk. Aika noticed that Kushina was keeping to herself.

"What's the matter, oba-chan?"

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"Is something troubling you?"

Kushina smiled. "I just miss my husband."

Aika giggled. "Why don't you find someone to love, then? You're very pretty, you know. You can have any man of your choosing. I think Yondaime-sama will understand."

"To tell you the truth, I've already found someone."

"Really? Who is it?"

Kushina went in front of Aika and messed her short white hair. "Sweetheart, there are things that you cannot tell somebody no matter what because it might not be accepted as appropriate."

Aika made a frown. Every time she did that, she became cuter, and Kushina could not help but admire the little fairy. _If she became the mother of Naruto's children, my grandchildren would be adorable._ She smiled. "But because you made me smile, I'm giving you some points for that. You've earned a step closer to my approval."

"Really?" Aika shrieked in joy.

"But, of course, it will not matter if Naruto disapproves. You should work harder to get his attention."

Aika's shoulders sagged. "I've always been doing that."

Kushina touched Aika's chin by her forefinger. "Don't lose hope, sweetheart. You are a fine lady. I'm sure the day will come that my son will see you as one. As Naruto says, never give up."

Aika inhaled a lungful and beamed. "Thank you, oba-chan. That means a lot to me."

"Man, I'm hungry!" Lee blurted out, stretching his arms. "That took away a lot of the cobwebs. Hey, what are you two smiling for?"

"Your great timing?" Kushina and Aika said. They looked at each other and laughed.

"Have I been away too long that it's already lunchtime?"

Kushina and Aika laughed harder.

…

The whole village was now gathered around Agila. The heads sat cross-legged in front of their respective groups. Naruto, Chiasa, Neji, Katsuo, Setsuko, Kushina, Aika, Tenten, Lee, and Talim—assisted by his wife Maya—also sat in front. Under intent gazes of the people around him, Agila began to speak.

"Our village is in danger," Talim began, getting immediately to the point. He heard a collective gasp coming from his people. "And we need to move fast before the enemy arrives. I want you to prepare and pack up. We will begin evacuating at dusk. Agimat, your group will stay behind a few hours to intercept any ambush. Bagwis and his warriors will set the traps around this forest to buy us some time. Talim and I will ensure the safety of the women and children as we move on to Tanimori."

"Wait, Chief, where did you get this information? And how about little Maliksi? Are you abandoning him?" Agimat said, his thick brows furrowing deeply.

"I don't have a choice, Agimat," Agila said. "We are what is left of our tribe."

"He is an heir to the Chiefhood. We cannot just leave him alone!"

"So you would rather put your family at risk for a single child?" Agila said. Agimat cringed. "We don't know if Maliksi is still alive. We cannot just blindly assume that they will give him back to us if we keep our side of the deal. Those people are rotten to the core. As your Chief, I cannot let anything happen to the children who are still with me. Losing my grandson is the last thing I want to endure."

"Then tell us where you got the information, Agila-sama," Bagwis asked, the more rational of the group. "Should we really trust it?"

"I gave it to him," Chiasa said, standing up. "Chief Agila, I want to tell them, personally."

"You?" Agimat cried. "What gave you the authority, outsider?"

Fortunately, only Agila, Talim, and Maya knew of her true identity. Talim had kept it because at the moment of his son's abduction, he understood Chiasa's true situation. Same as he was, Maya, despite her anger, knew that Chiasa was not at fault. They had an agreement with Agila to put the blame on the mastermind of the kidnapping, not on Chiasa. That was the reason no one among the villagers had attacked her during Talim and Naruto's fight, and no one was condemning her at the moment.

"I worked for them in the past. They also have my younger sister."

"You worked for them?" Agimat said. "Chief, are you saying that you trust this woman despite this fact?"

"Yes," Agila said.

"We cannot believe her! What if she is _still_ working for them?"

"Don't speak ill of our guests, Agimat!" Talim reprimanded. "Do you know how difficult it is for Uchiha-san to do this despite of her situation? With this, she is already accepting that her sister is dead. Can you do that if you are in her shoes?"

Agimat bowed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, War Leader."

"I know how you feel and I'm grateful of your concern for my son. But we are talking about the survival of our tribe here. We cannot let emotions cloud our judgment." Talim paused for emphasis. "Go on, Uchiha-san."

Chiasa squared her shoulders and raised her face. "I was a spy for the Left Wing before Uzumaki-san took me under his wing. The reason you were forced to eliminate us is because they feel that Uzumaki-san is a threat to them. The Kalulan is a tribe of exceptionally strong warriors and they thought that by using you, they would be able to assess Uzumaki-san and his group."

"Are you saying that they expected us to lose?" Bagwis asked, her gaze calculating.

"Yes."

"What do you mean by assess? Are they watching us right now?" Agimat interjected. Now his voice was calm.

"This plan was conceived before I decided to join Uzumaki-san. Originally, I was supposed to be the watcher, but since things are not what they supposed to be, they will surely think that I was killed…"

"Or you betrayed them," Agimat finished for her. "And your sister…" He gritted his teeth. "Those demons deserve to die."

"You need to evacuate before the Left Wing arrives. They are powerful beings, each having the rank of Sennin. If you don't know what it is, it signifies that each of them have the capability of changing this world with their power. It will only take one of them to annihilate your whole tribe."

"It is improbable, Uchiha-san," Bagwis said.

"Believe me. I've seen it with my own eyes."

"The whole group is another story, but you are saying that one of them is already enough to subdue all of us? The Kalulan tribe?"

"Uzumaki-san was holding back a lot when he was fighting me," Talim said. "He admitted himself that he did not want to kill me. If he was serious that time, I would have been killed." He looked at Naruto, telling him that it was his turn to convince the village people.

Naruto stood up. "The Tsubasakage of Hanegakure, the Hidden Village of Feathers, has recently given me the rank of Sennin. It is not official, yet, since I'm not of her village, but right now, I'm considered on the level of Sennins. With this promotion, she gave me this mark." He took off his jacket and showed them two crisscrossing serpentine marks running across the side of his torso.

Upon seeing it, some of the people in the crowd stood up and backed away, some gasped, and some touched the ground with their foreheads in reverence.

"Mahabaging Bathala," Agimat blurted out, meaning, _merciful God. _"That is the mark of the Queen of Destruction."

"Yes. I'm now her friend and she fights alongside me," Naruto said. "She chose me because I'm strong. I'm not telling you this to brag or threaten, but you would never have stood a chance against me if I called upon her for assistance. This alone shows how strong Sennins are, and there are many Sennins in this world who are stronger than I am."

There was silence. Talim studied the faces of the heads. They seemed to be weighing their Kalulan pride against the tribe's survival. Even for him, it was not an easy choice for they were a proud race of warriors. Only his fear of losing yet another love one had compelled him to choose the latter.

"Let's listen to this young man," an unfamiliar voice said from the crowd, shattering the silence. It belonged to a tall, lanky man of about twenty. "I know of him. You are Asahi, right, the mercenary under Lotus-sama?"

"Lotus-sama? You mean _the _Lotus of the Old World?" someone from the crowd said.

"Yes. I'm Asahi, a mercenary under the only Lotus you know of, the man who brought peace to this country twenty-six ago," Naruto said.

The statement struck the crowd with awe, and now only the heads and the high ranking tribesmen were sitting upright. The others had put their foreheads on the ground.

As the lanky man pushed his way through, he said, "I'm Daloy, one of this tribe's best scouts. I just came from Ajit, and Ajit is talking about you. Some of the soldiers say that the Queen has already caught wind of your name." He turned to the villagers. "We can trust him. I heard that he has been adopted as a prince of the Kingdom of Taka by King Haruo."

A murmur spread among the crowd.

Daloy knelt in front of Agila. "I'm here to report everything I've learned from my travel."

"It can wait for now, Daloy," Agila said. "We are convening here to formulate a plan of escape. But I'm grateful of your interruption. I think your words have convinced everyone that what our guest speaks of is true. Naruto-kun…" Agila nodded at Naruto, telling him to go on.

"I and my friends will stay behind to confront the Left Wing."

"But you just said—"

Lee cut Agimat off. "I was waiting for you to say that, Naruto!" He cracked his fist. "My blood is overbrimming with excitement now!"

"Sooner or later, we will fight against them, anyway," Neji said. "This is a good opportunity for us to test how strong we've grown."

Naruto nodded at Lee and Neji. "Agimat's group will stay behind, but not that far. I'm discouraging you to make any contact with the enemy. That will be our role."

"I understand," Agila said. "We will go with the plan. Agimat, Bagwis, prepare your warriors. Everyone, prepare for evacuation."

…

Dressed in Kalulan capes that they had stolen from two unsuspecting Kalulan warriors, Naruto and Chiasa leaped off from tree to tree. They had smeared themselves with mud and wore the capes to escape Katsuo's nose.

"How long will it take for your clones to stay intact?" Chiasa asked.

"Forever," Naruto said.

"Don't joke around! I'm not in the mood."

"Want a kiss?"

"Stop it, Naruto, I'm warning you."

"Those clones are imperishable clones. As long as they are not fatally wounded, they will not disappear."

"You have a technique like that?"

"I'm an expert of Shadow Clone Technique. That was a great Genjutsu, too, by the way."

"It's basic for us Uchihas, imparting a part of a user's memory like that to a clone."

"Basic for geniuses, maybe. That's the first time I've see such a technique."

"Speak for yourself."

Naruto turned to her and smiled. Chiasa smiled back, and Naruto felt a soft pinch in his heart. _Chiasa is really pretty when she smiles._ "You know what, you're really pretty."

"Playing mister playboy now?"

"I seldom joke, you know."

"Then you are _naturally _funny. Is that what you're saying?"

"I'm serious. You should act more like how you are right now—relaxed and open."

Chiasa pulled Naruto into a stop and kissed his mouth. "There's your kiss. Stop telling me embarrassing things, okay?" She leaped off ahead of him.

Naruto let out a quick sigh. "I shall remember to close my mouth next time."

"Naruto! Come on!"

"Coming!"

Because he knew that his friends would never let him go, he had decided to trick them into believing that he and Chiasa did not leave by using his imperishable clones. The Naruto and Chiasa who had spoken in front of the tribe earlier were the products of his imperishable clones and Chiasa's masterful Genjutsu.

_To be continued…_


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Downside up Rain

The forest stretched wide, and the only relief was the cordillera which bordered Sanmyaku in the distance. The chain of mountains looked silver veiled in fog against the setting sun.

Naruto and Chiasa continued to travel through the forest by tree branches. They had been travelling non-stop since this morning. As Naruto had told her earlier, they should cover as much ground as possible away from the village. He said that Katsuo, one of the best trackers he had ever known, could easily detect them within a radius of ten kilometers. He recommended that they travelled fifteen kilometers before they took their first stop, just to be safe. In her estimation, they had already travelled twelve. They were nearing the trench she had crossed the other night to get to the cave where she met with Kalua.

"Are you tired?" Naruto asked over his shoulder.

"A little, but I can still go on. There is a trench ahead, Naruto. I think it'd be better if we made our first stop on the other side."

"The trench you were talking about?"

"Yes." She had told Naruto everything, including how she had eluded Katsuo's sharp sense of smell. "At our current speed, we'd reach it in five minutes."

After two minutes, the surrounding grew humid. The barks of the trees glistened with dewdrops, and it became dangerous to keep their current speed. Naruto seemed to notice because he suddenly stopped at a branch.

"It's like we're crossing through clouds," Naruto said. "Have we been going up?"

Chiasa stood beside him. "No. This atmosphere indicates that we are near that trench. Come on. You'll find out why once we get there." She started at a slower pace.

The fog became thicker as they moved forward until the visibility was less than five meters. Chiasa called to Naruto when she could not see him anymore.

"I'm here," Naruto said.

"Wait there. I'm coming." She stood next to him. "It will be difficult to cross the fog with normal eyes. Hold onto me." She heard an amused smirk from him.

"Now you want a hug?"

Instead of giving in to irritation, she stepped back. Naruto had been making comments like that all day. He had commented about her hair, her eyes, her lips…the kiss…and now the hug. He was acting like a seducer…a fox. He felt him come to her and nudged her neck. The point of his nose tickled her, making her shiver.

"What's the matter?" he said.

"I thought you were not interested in this kind of thing."

"I don't remember saying something like that." He licked her neck.

Chiasa gasped, pushing him away with her right hand. The feel of his tongue was like the kick of electricity with a million volts. "D-d-don't do that again, Naruto!" _This is your chance._ She froze when she heard the familiar voice in her head. Disoriented, she did not notice Naruto's approach. He put his face against hers and sniffed her scent. If she was her old self, she would have already thrust a fist into his face. She could not admit that she did not like it for she felt the opposite. There was a part in her that was enjoying his advances. Maybe it was because of the fact that he had and would sacrifice a lot for her, or maybe it was simply because she was attracted to him. _Don't pass this up, Chiasa._ That voice again. Chiasa looked into Naruto's eyes.

"What am I doing?" Naruto asked her, but it sounded as if he was asking himself.

The question broke the glass where Kalua's voice was written. "What?"

Naruto stepped back, perplexed with himself. He put his hands on his hips and bowed his head to think. It was a long time before he raised his head, and sighed. "If a fighting ensues, never come near me, okay?"

"What are you talking about?"

"It will be dangerous." He paused to see if she understood. Awhile after, he said, "Let's go."

Chiasa, unable to let it go, grabbed his elbow. "I won't move from here if you don't explain it to me."

Naruto considered. Then he turned to face her. "The Demon Fox is running freely inside me, Chiasa. I haven't mastered it, yet. Some of its traits are slipping off from my control every time I lose myself in deep thought. I don't even notice it. It isn't a total outbreak like what I used to have before, but it is still dangerous. I have just attained Yuujo, recently, so I'm not yet well attuned to it."

Chiasa frowned. What was he talking about? She knew what Yuujo was. It was the state where the Jinchuuriki attained total dominion over a tailed-beast. If Naruto had really attained Yuujo, why was he worrying that he could lose control over his Biju anytime? He was contradicting himself.

"I don't understand," she said. "Isn't Yuujo the state where you become friends with your tailed-beast?"

Naruto smiled, longingly. "I let go of the rein, Chiasa."

Naruto's words were getting weirder by the minute. "Could you be more straight with me? Honestly, you're losing me, Naruto."

Naruto tapped his abdomen with his right hand, the smile lingering on his face. "The only thing that remains in here is Yumiko's hatred."

The name registered on Chiasa. She had heard him call that girl's name in his sleep. "Do you mean the Biju's hatred?"

"Yes. Try using your Sharingan on me."

Chiasa stared at Naruto's abdomen for a moment before looking up to his face. Naruto nodded at her. Prompted by the gesture, Chiasa activated her Sharingan. With just one glance she understood. If it wasn't Naruto who possessed it, she would call the mass of concentrated darkness evil. It was so deep and powerful that she had to deactivate her Sharingan right away and suppress a shriek in her throat.

"Can you promise to me now?" Naruto asked.

Chiasa inhaled a lungful to calm herself. "I promise."

"You go on ahead. I can use my Sage Mode to detect your location. We are already far enough. I think it is safe now to use high-rank techniques."

"Naruto, about the flirting..."

"Yes?"

"Don't think, so that you'll not lose yourself." She leaped off from the branch. She had totally forgotten Kalua's insinuations a moment ago.

…

Something was amiss. That was all the First Son could make out of the strange feeling coming from Sasuke. The genius Uchiha was more like human compared to what he had expected Madara to rear. Sasuke showed compassion, often masking it by saying that he did not want to waste time on killing a redundant existence. He did not show it too often, but the frequency by which he listened to an enemy's plea was _precisely_ set at irregular interval, as if he was deliberately deceiving them. He would ruthlessly kill for a week, spare lives for a day, and then he would go about mercilessly for two days. His schedule had no pattern, and an inattentive one could be easily misled. The First Son now wondered if Madara and Orochimaru had missed this peculiarity in Sasuke's behavior.

The mission had been his idea to check if his theory was correct. Even with his Sharinnegan, he hadn't been able to test if Sasuke was under Genjutsu. Sasuke despised being talked to. He often locked himself inside his dark chamber and only went out for his training. When he was in the open, Madara was always nearby. There had not been a single opportunity for him to be alone with Sasuke. But today, he was sure he would be able to know what was in Sasuke's mind, even without using his eyes. He had noticed that Sasuke had a death wish. He was good at disguising it, but it showed however subtle the intention was. Whenever he fought with strong enemies, he always left an opening for a split second, so that the enemy could land a fatal blow on him. Fortunately, no one had ever braved grabbing the opportunity. Sasuke did this suicidal maneuver at the climax of the fight, and at this time, the enemy was already too afraid to attack. Now that Sasuke was about to battle with a strong Jinchuuriki, he knew that he would see this maneuver again. He wanted to know if Sasuke had not been accidentally letting his guard down and was just luring the enemy into a trap.

Their infiltration of Kumo was a success. Using his and Sasuke's Genjutsu, they had instructed the guards around the Sacred Cave to watch the area for _local _intruders, meaning to restrict Kumo shinobis to enter while they deal with Killer Bee. No one sounded the alarm and all assured them that intruders would be treated as dead men.

The Sacred Cave towered in the distance. The head of the Eight Tailed Ox gaped in perpetuity at the top of the entrance gate. The metal gate was five stories high, and in his opinion, strong enough to confine the Jinchuuriki's powerful techniques. The surrounding land was filled with deep craters, obviously created by large explosions. If what he suspected was true, a fierce fight would be entertained only by passing glances and soft curses from people nearby. They would not treat it seriously for Killer Bee must have disturbed them with explosions everyday. Judging from the shape and the texture, some of the craters had been created early this morning.

Sasuke stood in front of the large gate, his Sharingan gleaming under the sun. He was looking dead ahead, as if he could see what was inside of the massive metal gate. The wind blew past them, flapping their Akatsuki black robes, folding some of the embroidered red clouds on the fabric into two.

The gate produced a large bang. The bolt inside had been pulled aside. A loud cranking of hinges blasted past them as the gate slowly moved outward. He could feel the condensed chakra seeping out of the crack. It made him shiver in anticipation. Its possessor must be incredibly strong for his skin to prickle so much. Then the tanned man appeared in the crack. He was muscular with white hair that was pulled neatly on his scalp. He also had a white beard and goatee, giving his appearance the semblance of toughness. His eyes were hidden behind black sunglasses.

"You've come," the Jinchuuriki simply said. "And you brought some new backup, eh?"

The voice contrasted the tough and seemingly quiet impression of the man. It was thin, and the inflection revealed a cheerful demeanor.

"I'm here as a spectator," he said.

The Jinchuuriki raised his left brow. "Never ever listen to your very loud head, 'cause I'm gonna deal with you and soon you'll be dead."

He wanted to laugh at the poorly constructed rhyme. Was he an aspiring poet? "I'm leaving it to you." He started to walk away.

"Do you think I'm gonna let you?"

The Jinchuuriki nudged a blade from his back and flung it towards him. He ignored it. There was only the whisper of the wind as he gained distance. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw Sasuke holding the Jinchuuriki's blade between his forefinger and thumb.

"I'm the one you should be dealing with," Sasuke said.

"Hmph! Big headed as you are now. I can't believe you defeated my friend Naruto."

Sasuke smirked. "You'll be with him soon. Don't worry. I'm sure he also misses you."

…

Naruto could feel the gust of water drops from bellow. Chiasa had explained to him that the shower came from geysers at the bottom of the trench. The blast of water was relentless, and there had never been a single moment that it rested. The continuous lashing of water washed off the mud they had smeared their faces with, and their clothes were now fully drenched. Chiasa's perfect body showed beneath her wet robe, and Naruto could feel himself getting _embarrassed (?)_ every time his eyes fell on her full breasts and thin waist. He avoided looking at her when he spoke.

"We need to jump onto a vine," Chiasa said.

Though the surrounding was covered in thick fog, Naruto could still make out the trees that had grown from the face of the cliff. They grew out of the rock grotesquely, twisting their trunks up to get near the sky. Thick vines coming off from their branches and exposed roots sagged across the perilous gap like makeshift footbridges.

"Okay," Naruto said. A sexy smile stretch one corner of his lips. "Ladies first."

Chiasa reacted to it by pulling her Kalulan cape to cover her breasts. "I told you to stop thinking."

Naruto reached out to touch her face.

Chiasa backed away. "Naruto. We can do this later, okay. Not right now." When he went on, Chiasa yelled, "Get a hold of yourself!"

Naruto woke up from deep thought, not remembering any of the things he just did. "I'm sorry. What was it again?"

Chiasa looked at him. "Are you sure we ought to go on with this?"

He knew where she was coming from. The fox had slipped through his consciousness again. He inhaled a lungful to stop the sudden surge of anger in his veins. "Let's go."

"Are _you _sure, Naruto?"

"I don't know if, in this situation, it's a bad or a good thing that you were born beautiful."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I think the Demon Fox is reacting to my hidden desires."

"Are you saying that you desire me?"

Naruto had to laugh. The question sounded blunt, but had sincere innocence in it, as if Chiasa had not experienced being desired by someone before. With her physical beauty, he doubted it. "I need to cleanse myself," he said. "After we cross this trench, we should rest for awhile."

"If that were true, I wish you would not cleanse yourself," Chiasa muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" Chiasa barked. She turned around to hide her face. "Let's go and find a thick vine."

"All right," Naruto said. He began to take off his clothes. "How long will it take to cross this trench?"

Chiasa shrieked at the sight of Naruto's naked upper body. "What are you doing?"

"Don't worry, I'm myself. So, how long?"

"We can't rush so about a minute." Her voice broke at some words, a testimony that she was nervous.

Naruto enjoyed it, even if he was not deliberately teasing her. The fox was slowly growing on him. "It's like diving into a river, then. It'd be better to enjoy the moment."

The trip across the vine was one that he would never forget. Though the water came from a geyser, which was usually hot, it was cold against the skin and refreshing. It washed away not only dirt, but the weariness in his bone. The experience was comparable to dancing in the rain, only that the rain poured upward.

_Escaping Katsuo's nose is next to impossible, but through this downside up rain, I can finally understand how Chiasa did it._ He stared at Chiasa's silhouetted form in the distance and muttered, "How hard is it for you to go through all this, Chiasa?"

_To be continued…_

Author's Note: Sorry it had to be short. Didn't have enough time for four thousand words. See you next chapter!


	54. Chapter 54

**Author's Note:**__Here's two chapters for you. Enjoy!

…

Chapter 54: Illusion

Naruto had summoned his samurai frog Akira for their dry clothes. He had made this arrangement before they left the Kalulan village. After gathering firewood, he began to make fire, refusing her offer of a Fire Release technique. As she watched Naruto, Chiasa's thoughts went to her clone. The time had come for her clone to tell those she trusted most among Naruto's group. It was fortunate that she had decided to infuse her own chakra into the clone Naruto had made for her. Now she only prayed that everything would go smoothly according to her plan.

Setsuko crawled out of her tent. The sun had already set down the western mountains, and the stars shone down from above. The breeze played with her hair and embraced her, making her shiver. Turning east, she saw the six remaining tents the Kalulans built for them. The evacuation had preceded peacefully, the children treating it as an adventure under troubled faces of their parents. Agimat had expressed his anxiety about leaving them alone to fight with the enemy, but was also grateful of their kindness. He promised that he would treat their generosity a debt for life.

Katsuo turned his bald head and nodded at her, inviting her to the fire. She smiled in gratitude and silently refused. "I'm going for a walk," she followed up. Katsuo nodded and turned back on the fire. Nostalgia rushed in as she walked in the quiet of the evening. This was like the time when she had been under Kinjo's care, where all she did was talk to her wolf friends. Now she was with human friends, and everything was thanks to Naruto. His arrival into her life had changed its course forever. Though the days were moving so fast with one problem coming up after the other, she could say that she was contented.

As she reached the ridge going down the river, she heard voices. She strained her ear to hear clearer. One was Neji's voice. Whom was he talking to? She peered over the lip of the ridge and saw Chiasa. Suspicion gripped her. She stood up and jumped down the inclined embankment, startling the two.

"What's going on? Why are you talking alone with her?" she asked Neji. She glared at Chiasa and the dark-eyed girl looked away. "Why are you having a conversation behind our backs?"

"It's not what you think, Setsuko," Neji said.

"Then why are you keeping this a secret from us?" Setsuko could feel her blood start to boil. She had disliked Chiasa for a long time, but she felt that the gray-eyed Hyuuga had just kicked her side. Her short-tempered nature was shouting loudly in her ears.

Neji and Chiasa stared at each other for a few seconds. Their hesitation hung on the air like the stench of putrid water. The tick of her veins took a large bite of her remaining calm. Her hand shot out and grabbed Chiasa by the collar.

"Tell me, now, you bitch, else I'll tear your throat with my teeth," Setsuko hissed.

"Setsuko-san, please calm down." Neji began pulling her away from Chiasa. "Don't be too violent with her if you still want to know what's going on."

"Are you having a negotiation with him, huh? Are you threatening him?" Setsuko said, shaking Chiasa.

Neji twisted his wrists, unhooking her arms, and with graceful execution, he successfully pried her off of Chiasa. She would have admired him if not for the tense situation.

"What's the big idea?" she said, rubbing her wrist.

"I'm just telling you to be careful with her. She's just a clone."

Setsuko first felt her anger thickening a notch, then plummeting into film-thin as realization came, realization that she was more confused than before.

"A clone?" she said, frowning.

"Do you know how to keep a promise?" Neji said. It sounded like a challenge.

"Why can't you just tell me—"

Neji's gray eyes glinted in impatience. "I _want_ you to answer _me_."

Setsuko heard the conviction in his voice. He would never tell her if she did not answer his question. She despised giving her word to a stranger, or to anyone for that matter, but right now her pride did not have a place in here. She had to answer even if it was a lie. Looking back into Neji's eyes, she forgot about the lying part.

"Yes," she said. The wind blew past them like an actress entering the stage. Neji took a few seconds of thinking before he accepted.

Neji turned to Chiasa. "Tell her."

"This body is Naruto-sama's clone, but its chakra, appearance, and memory are my original self's," Chiasa said. "They are headed for Kalua's hideout."

Hearing this, Setsuko's muscles tightened. "How long have you been keeping this up?"

"Only since morning. My original self set me to tell Neji-san everything after the two of them have crossed the Crying Trench. Naruto-sama doesn't know anything about this."

"What do you mean?"

"Naruto-sama is behind our departure."

"Naruto? Don't freaking lie to me!"

"This is the only solution he came up with. Kalua wants Naruto-sama. My original self was put to the task of delivering Naruto-sama to him in exchange for Akiko and the War Leader's son."

The revelation hurled Setsuko in between two large boulders: her good sense and her heart. Knowing what kind of man Naruto was, she could not blame him for coming up with the reckless decision. "Why didn't you tell us earlier? Why only now?"

"My original self was planning to tell Kushina-san and Neji-san everything, but Naruto-sama did not give her the chance. He felt that revealing my original self's predicament would put her in danger. He knew that you disliked her."

It was a blow to Setsuko, and words failed her. "I would never have…" She remembered what Naruto had said when she told him what her real purpose of coming with him was. _I will never let you do something you don't want to._ Was his decision to go was both to protect Chiasa and her from her mission?

"You would have dispatched of her because Naruto-sama is very important to you. Without knowing it, he has become your life."

"Don't talk as if you know me! Yes, I would have _killed_ you, you bitch! If I had known that you would use Naruto like this, I would have disposed of you a long time ago!" She approached a step, pointing a finger at Chiasa. "If something happens to Naruto, I will never ever forgive you."

"She would also never forgive herself, Setsuko," Neji said. "And she is not using Naruto."

"Don't side with this woman! Aren't you Naruto's friend? Aren't you worried for his sake?"

Neji grabbed Setsuko's outstretched hand and gently pulled it down. "Naruto is trying his best to give everyone happiness, Setsuko. He cannot stand it when someone is in pain. Naruto would have done the same for you if you had this kind of predicament."

Setsuko was boiling in anger now. She retrieved her hand from Neji's grasp, stalked off, and screamed. The air might have carried her voice back to the camp, but she did not care. She needed to do it. "Naruto, you idiot!"

"Help me," Chiasa said. "I'm telling you this so that you can help me protect him."

Setsuko went in front of Chiasa. "Don't you think you're too late for that?"

The clone's eyes took on a sheen of confidence. "You would have been eaten by yourself and would have blindly tried to kill me on the spot. I wouldn't have cared, but Naruto-sama is as important now to me as my younger sister. I don't want him to see the both of us killing each other because of his decision. Now tell me if I'm too late."

Chiasa's argument was hard to refute, and it left Setsuko speechless. She had swallowed her pride before, but it only went so far as her stomach. This was the first time that it would get to her intestines. Her eyes did not leave Chiasa's. In those black orbs she saw pleading. Her dislike of the Uchiha might be big, but she felt some of it collapsing after she had a good look at the swirl of emotions in Chiasa's eyes. Regret was a given, but there was also genuine fear for Naruto's safety.

"Then tell me where you are right now," Setsuko said, looking down on the ground. Her fists still shook on her sides, but the trembling had diminished to a controllable level.

"Thank you. We are—" The clone puffed into smoke.

"No," Neji muttered.

"I can handle myself, Neji," Naruto's clone said at the top of the ridge. "They will know eventually, so assure them I'm fine. Be careful against your fight with the Left Wing." At that, the clone vanished.

"Naruto!" Neji clenched his teeth in frustration.

"What should we do?" Setsuko said, still in shock at the suddenness of the development.

"You and Katsuo are going to chase them. Prepare yourself," was all Neji said as he walked back to the camp.

…

Chiasa opened her eyes and saw Naruto standing before him. "I'm…" She trailed off, anticipating a barrage of questions from Naruto. She actually flinched when she heard him inhale.

"I'm not mad," Naruto said, hunkering down in front of her. "Is this place volcanic? I've found some hot springs beyond that rock."

"I had to do it, Naruto. I don't want anything to happen to you."

Naruto grinned. "I'm not blaming you. I was a little rash with my decision."

"I'm sorry."

"It's all right. Do you want to eat now? I've roasted some fish by the fire. If you want to, we can eat it at the hot spring."

Chiasa could only shake her head. Smiling, she said, "And watch a free show? Are you a moron?"

"Hey, I am _not_ thinking, okay? I'm not the fox talking. And when I'm me, I abhor peeking. It is the third worst crime, just below murder and rape."

She stood up and got a towel from the leather bag Akira the Samurai Frog had brought along. "Just to be sure, I'm going ahead." She took one of the roasted fishes and trotted off to the hot springs.

"I was an idiot for making that comment. I should have waited for Neji's decision," Naruto muttered as he watched Chiasa go.

…

Neji's mind was whirling with possibilities. His strides were fast towards the fire at the center of the tents. Kushina and Tenten sat side by side on a log, each of them had a cup of tea in their hands. Katsuo came from behind the tall rock near his tent with an armload of kindling.

"Where are the others?" Neji asked.

"Lee and Aika are already asleep," Kushina said. She had her red hair tucked behind her ears, and in this darkness, her face eerily looked very much like Naruto's. "What's wrong? You're face is all wet."

"Naruto and Chiasa are gone. They left this morning."

Kushina giggled. "What's the bet?"

"What?"

"The bet," Kushina said, patiently. "This is a dare from Naruto, right?" As she waited for his reply, watching his face, the smile on her lips gradually faded. "If you're looking for him, he's just left for the river…" She stood up. "Don't tell me…"

"Neji-san!" Setsuko called out from behind him.

"I'm planning on sending Katsuo and Setsuko to go after them," Neji went on.

"I'm going, too," Kushina said. She must have seen the unwillingness on his face, for she added, "You can't dissuade me, Neji. I'm his mother."

Tenten looked up at Kushina, rotating the clay cup in her hands. Neji looked into Kushina's dark purple eyes.

"We had better get going, Neji-san," Setsuko said.

Neji considered for three more seconds before he said, "Okay. Katsuo, lead the way. I think you know what to do."

"Ah." Katsuo put the kindling beside the log. "I need a wide place for the ritual."

"Can you handle _her_ now?" Tenten asked.

"Of course," Katsuo curtly replied.

Katsuo led them to the wide desert where Talim and Naruto had fought on. He told them to stay back and warned them not to look _her_ in the eye. "She is very dangerous, and she treats the most harmless of gestures as insolence."

"Are you sure about this, Katsuo?" Tenten said. The semi-darkness of the night made the anxiety on her face look deeper. "Is there no other way? I heard the stories."

Katsuo looked at Tenten, and a ghost of a smile touched his lips. "Naruto has his Queen of Destruction. I won't let myself fall behind too far." He inhaled. "Remember to stay away."

Katsuo began to concentrate his chakra. The tattoos on his head started to spread and cover him. His skin became obsidian black, his eyes glimmering golden orbs. "Stay back." He bit his thumb to draw blood, and then thrust it to the ground. "Inuzuka Sacred Wolf Summoning: Suseri-hime!" The ground shook and from the circle shadow behind Katsuo, a giant wolf's head emerged. Its fur was brilliantly white. Katsuo was big, but compared to the wolf's muzzle, he was like a beetle. The scant light revealed the chains and paper seals that had been wound around the wolf's head. Its eyes rolled towards Katsuo. Reverent, Katsuo bowed his head.

"Great Suseri-hime, Goddess of Wolf Warriors, I'm beseeching you for assistance," Katsuo said.

"You are an Inuzuka monk, it seems," said Suseri in her deep, melodious voice. "Quite a sight for almost five decades of not seeing one."

"Goddess, I need your abilities to find a friend. Would you be so kind to take me to him?"

"Hmmm, how will you prove your worth to _me_, then? How will you convince me?"

"I was told that you like to eat the flesh of Inuzuka monks."

Suseri giggled. "Are you trying to ask me to be your servant, eternally?"

"I am."

"This trial means one life. If you don't give me what I require, I have to kill you or one of your friends."

"I'm prepared."

"I require a monk of your own blood, whom you love so much. Can you give me what I require?"

A long silence ensued. No one among them dared to look at Suseri.

"What's your answer, child?"

Slowly, Katsuo raised his head, a smile on his lips. "You can eat my body after I die."

Amused, Suseri laughed. "Curious. The only one who answered correctly besides you was the founder of the Inuzuka Clan, the man behind my captivity and eternal service to your family. My question is forever a riddle, and twisted men who crave power have always brought me a _live_ sacrifice, of their own flesh and blood, often their children, sometimes their parents. Don't you find it peculiar that no one has ever been written as my master but the First Monk of the Sacred Wolf?"

"I studied his life," Katsuo said. "And through his writings I found out that Her Holiness would never require life for her service. He said that you were the most beautiful being he had ever laid his eyes upon."

"Very well. As you can see, I'm sealed and I will not be able to escape. The First Monk made sure that I wouldn't be able to leave his side," Suseri said, giggling. "That fool loved me so much."

"Isn't there a way to unseal you, Goddess?"

"Not one, my child. But I have the capability to point you in the direction of your friend."

"That would already be enough. I appreciate your kindness."

Suseri asked for anything that Naruto possessed, and Katsuo brought out a forehead band. She sniffed the piece of cloth, lifted her muzzle, and then sniffed the air. "The boy is twenty two thousand and three hundred sixteen paces away, fourteen degrees fifteen minutes northwest. He is on the other side of a wide trench that is constantly splashed by geysers at its bottom. I can smell the scent of a woman nearby, at a place with hot springs."

"Chiasa-san…"

"They are currently resting, I presume."

"Thank you, Goddess."

"By the way, child, there are two other individuals with strong chakras moving in this direction from northeast. At their speed, they will pass through here by dawn."

"I appreciate it. Actually, they are not just going to pass through." Katsuo nodded at Neji, and then looked back at Suseri. "Goddess, isn't there anyone else nearby, other than the woman, where my friend is?"

"From where he's at to a hundred kilometers around, all I sense is nature. The two of them are alone."

"That's weird."

Suseri grunted as one of the seal glowed and burned her. "I must be going back now, child. The seal is already reacting."

"I understand, Goddess."

"Call me Suseri-hime." The white wolf sunk back into the shadow.

Katsuo faced them. "We had better get moving. I have a bad feeling about this."

…

The spring was wide, but without the moon it gleamed inward, the stark side was what showed. The steam assured that the water was close to boiling.

Chiasa took another bite off her fish before she planted the stick into the ground and began taking her clothes off. The wind blew and she shivered. Placing her clothes at arms length from her, she went into the hot water. She sighed as the heat splashed her skin.

"Onee-chan!"

Chiasa turned in the direction of the voice. "Aki?" She stood up, looking around. "Aki, where are you?"

"Onee-chan!"

"Oh my God." She dressed up and listened. "Kalua, are you here?"

"Onee-chan!" From the darkness, a small girl came out and buried her face into her bosom. "Onee-chan…" Her sobs rocked her small body. "Onee-chan, I'm so scared. Please, take me away from him. I want to be with you."

"How does it feel that your sister is within your grasp?" Kalua's voice said.

Akiko hugged Chiasa tighter. "Please don't let him take me."

Chiasa wrapped her arms protectively around her sister.

"Are you thinking of escaping, now that your sister is out of my reach? Think twice. The Jinchuuriki trusts you completely. Don't make it more difficult for you. Now is the time that you make your promise to your sister."

Akiko looked up at her. Chiasa almost choked when she saw the hope in those big black eyes of her sister.

"Onee-chan…"

Chiasa made her decision. She hugged Akiko and kissed her forehead. "Just wait for me, Akiko. Remember that your onee-chan loves you very much."

Akiko smiled. "I love you, too, Chiasa-nee. Please don't take long."

"I won't take long." Chiasa straightened to face Kalua. "I'll bring him to you."

The smile that she saw on Kalua's lips was that most loathsome she had ever seen.

…

After he had bathed, they left. Chiasa told him that Kalua had come to tell her that her time was running out. Right now, they were jumping from branch to branch in the dead of the night.

"Why didn't you call me?" Naruto asked.

"He brought with him Akiko. I, myself, couldn't do anything."

Naruto gave her a sideway glance, but he did not say anything.

"How come you don't slip? If I don't have my Sharingan, I might have a long time ago," Chiasa said after a long silence.

"Rather than seeing, I'm feeling my way up by Sage Mode."

"I see."

Another silence ensued.

"Chiasa, you know something about illusions, right?" Naruto said.

"Do you mean Genjutsu?"

"No. The general word."

"A deception?"

Naruto considered for a while. "Have you been caught up in a Genjutsu before?"

"A lot has already tried to use Genjutsu on me, but all of them have failed because of my Sharingan."

"That's to be expected. Only an Uchiha can put an Uchiha under an illusion." He paused. "Hashirama-sensei told me that an illusion is similar to reality. A powerful illusion is felt by all our senses, as if it is reality itself. I've already experienced it in the Hensen no Kuusho, when he created a world similar to this one."

"Hashirama-sensei is really powerful. I'm not surprised. To tell you the truth, I was hoping that he would be the one to help me save my little sister."

"That's the strange thing. I was with him for two years in Hensen no Kuusho. I can't think of him of being able to hate someone for doing something rational."

Chiasa sighed. "He is very strict with rules, Naruto. And with Sanmyaku in a warring state, espionage is a crime worse than murder, if murder is even considered a crime in war."

"But still…"

"I don't hate him, if that's what you're worried of. He did what he must."

"Kakashi-sensei, my ninja instructor in Konoha, told us that a ninja who disregards rules is scum, but a ninja who disregards his comrades is a worse scum."

Chiasa stopped. Seeing this, Naruto stopped as well.

"You sound as if you want to tell me something," Chiasa said.

Naruto exhaled. "I heard you talking with someone, Chiasa, but I was in Sage Mode then. You were talking with yourself."

Chiasa frowned. "What do you mean?"

"There's a big possibility that you are under Genjutsu."

"What?"

"Chiasa, try dispelling it. You know how."

Naruto watched her as she considered his advice. Then she began making hand seals. "Genjutsu: Time Thief!" This was a Genjutsu that robbed the target of his sense of time.

When Naruto blinked, Chiasa was already in front of him. Slowly, he felt the dizziness brought about by pain. Chiasa had stabbed him in the heart. "C-Chiasa…"

…

_You fool! I would've hit his heart if you hadn't intervened!_ She heard Kalua's angry voice blaring in her head. This was the first time she heard Kalua's voice rise. Usually, his voice did not have emotion in it, a gruesome monotone worse than Reiko's.

She could not believe it. At that split second, she lost control over herself. Now Naruto was falling down from the branch, and she could not do anything but stare. _Finish him off!_

"I can't…" Chiasa said. Tears were flowing down from her eyes. "I can't kill him."

_You are half-way there, you fool! Don't you want to have your sister back?_

"Genjutsu. You made me believe that I had a sister."

_You can see her. You can feel and hear her. You can smell and touch her. The Jinchuuriki was just spouting nonsense, Chiasa. Listen to me. The ransom for your sister's freedom is one leap away. I'll set you free after this. I'll set you both free. You can begin a new life. I'll take care of everything afterwards._

"No. I won't be fooled by you, anymore." Chiasa put her fore and middle fingers together like a praying monk. "Dispel!" Every memory of Akiko disappeared from her mind, and she felt rage eating at her bones. Kalua had been deceiving her for a very long time.

She leaped off of the tree branch and went to Naruto's side. As she put her hand on the hilt of the dagger sticking out of his chest, she felt a chill running down her spine_._

_If you can't do it, I will._

"Kalua!" She felt her hands moving on their own, and then she understood. She stood up and sprinted through the thicket, away from Naruto, praying that he held on until his friends arrived. She needed to gain as much distance as possible before she lost her consciousness.

...

_To be continued…_


	55. Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Cry as Much as You Want

_You would've been killed._

"I'm an idiot. I must act like one."

_If you let me, I could kill her for you. I know you can't._

"Then why will I let you?"

The fox growled in irritation. _You cannot save everyone. You must choose who is the most valuable for you. You want to be Hokage, right? Do you think that all the past Hokages had been perfect? They killed and spared the wrong persons, and that brought them suffering and death. _

"Are you really pure evil? Because I think you are not."

_You can try me._

Naruto smiled. "Not yet. I'm not yet perfect."

_That's impossible. Nobody can be perfect. Just earlier, a drop of my darkness led you to lust._

"That's a given, you know, with or without your darkness. Chiasa is a beautiful girl."

_And she just tried to kill you._

Naruto got up from the ground and pulled the dagger out of his chest. The bleeding promptly stopped and the wound slowly closed, leaving only a pink vertical scar.

"I know that you will not let me die," Naruto said.

_I won't, but you will endure the pain. The Crimson Queen is not here anymore to catch it for you._

"That is why I had to set her free."

_Be very—_

"You are not a sentient entity. I'm aware of that fact, now. All I have to do is to remove you from my head, right?"

_You can never._

"You represent my imperfections. You'll rest soon. You will not need to persuade me to do wrong, anymore."

_Stop dreaming. You know that I can make things easier for you._

"Sasuke once told me that I had the knack for making easy things complicated. I haven't been able to shake that off of me. I'm used to it."

Naruto waited for the voice to reply, but it remained quiet. He chuckled. "If I reason enough, nothing is unreasonable."

…

Chiasa pumped her legs to buy time as much as what she could. She had to get away, so she ran and ran, ignoring the sting of thorns, the pang of leaves slapping her, and the pain of small pebbles pelting her sandaled feet. She wanted to kill herself, out of regret and guilt, but she knew that Naruto would never forgive himself for letting her do that. She knew how precious she was to Naruto. It was clear to her now that he would rather die than let anything happen to her.

She clutched her heart. It was so painful. Then a thin smile appeared on her lips. She recalled how irritated she was with Naruto when they first met, especially when he kissed her inside the room in the Temple of the Descending Dragon. She had never forgotten the kiss, and it had kept her awake for many nights in Hibarashi's Estate.

Her right hand found the pendant Naruto had given her as payment for the kiss. She originally wanted to kill him, but now she wanted to protect him.

The surrounding became brighter as she gained distance, and then there was suddenly sun. She stopped. "Where am I?" The slanting pillars of light highlighted patches on the green grass. "Where am I? No. No, this can't be. No! Naruto!"

Back in the darkness, an evil laugh rushed out of Chiasa's throat. Her Sharingan resembled those of a devil's. "I'll finish what you've begun. Watch me."

…

Setsuko and Kushina looked apprehensive as Katsuo handed them the rope.

"Couldn't we just travel on foot?" Kushina asked.

"This is the fastest way, Kushina-san," Katsuo said. "With my Sacred Mode, I can travel ten times the average speed."

"But flying?"

"I'll do the running." Katsuo glanced at the large air glider behind Setsuko and Kushina. Tenten had summoned it from her armory.

"We don't have much time to argue, Kushina-san," Tenten said. "If you want, I'll go in your place."

"You just want me to back down!" Kushina said. "All right! I'll do it!" Her hands shook a little as she gripped the rope tighter.

"Make sure that the rope is secured," Katsuo said. Setsuko tried it and said that it was. "Neji, Tenten, we're going."

"Be careful," Neji said, clapping a hand on Katsuo's shoulder.

Katsuo nodded.

"Wait!" It was Kushina again. "Please, let me prepare myself a little—aaaaah!" The air glider took off as Katsuo gained speed. "I'm going to kill you, you baldy! I swear—aaaaah! You're doing it on purpose! I'll leave nothing on your body unmarked!"

These protests were a form of cheering for Katsuo, and he accelerated even more.

…

Naruto felt the tremor in the ground. He looked up when he heard the shriek of a large animal. He knew what it was. He bit his thumb and drew a line of blood across the mark on his ribs. "Summoning Technique: Queen of Serpents!"

The large black snake lifted Naruto up on her head. Ahead, he saw the dragon Leviathan with Chiasa standing on its nose.

"He is a dangerous enemy, that dragon."

"You finally talked, Queen-san," Naruto said.

"Call me Uzume, My Lord."

"That's a nice voice you have. It melts my ears."

"Feel fortunate, then, for there are only two people in the world who have ever heard me. You are one of them."

"Being chosen by you is already a great honor, Uzume."

"Thank you."

"What can you tell me about Leviathan?"

"He can convert air into flame. That means that he's a natural flame thrower with unlimited supply of fuel. Another thing is he can fly."

"Quite a folklore description to me."

"Be very careful, My Lord. His speed is not to be toyed with."

"I'll remember that. Can you handle his flames?"

"I could dive into a river of magma, if you like."

"Scary. Anyway, I'll handle the girl. Even if you have the chance, don't harm her."

"Isn't she the girl you saved from execution?"

"She is. For some reason, she wants me to save her a second time."

Uzume was silent for awhile. Then she said, "I understand."

"Let's go!"

Uzume slithered towards the dragon with incredible speed. Leviathan opened its mouth, flapped its wings down and flew, and then shot a ball of fire towards Uzume.

"Now, My Lord!" Uzume said.

Naruto leaped off from Uzume's head, did hand seals, and called on, "Summoning Technique: Kinjo!" The big white wolf appeared in mid-air.

"Sorry for the trouble, Kinjo," Naruto said.

"I'm glad to hear you dropping the honorific, Naruto-sama."

Below, Uzume pierced through the ball of flame, opened her mouth, and threatened to grab a large chunk from Leviathan's neck.

Chiasa said something to the dragon, and it soared higher, leaving Uzume with nothing to bite but air. The large snake plowed the trees.

"Now, Kinjo!" Naruto commanded.

The white wolf opened his mouth. "Sound Release: Sonic Fangs!" A ball of compressed vibrations shot out from Kinjo's mouth. Leviathan was too late to dodge. The ball shoved the dragon into the ground.

Chiasa, on the other hand, fell from above Naruto. She touched her wrist with two fingers, and a blade of fire grew out from her palm. Naruto reacted fast, quickly forming hand seals. When the blade touched Naruto, fire engulfed him and Kinjo. The two changed into logs and plummeted into the now burning forest.

Chiasa was left in midair, but not for long. From the ground came Naruto with a cocked fist. Chiasa grinned.

"That's more like it," she said. "Underestimate me more. Make it easier for me." She spread her hands and put them together to create a spade between her forefingers and thumbs. "Mangekyou Art: Invisible Hell!"

Naruto realized what the technique was all about. _Shit!_

Everything inside the spade that her eyes could see turned into black ash, as if burned by an invisible fire. But Naruto was already gone.

"Tch." Chiasa watched the white wolf as it disappeared into the trees.

"Naruto-sama, are you all right?" Kinjo said. He put Naruto on the ground. "That was a dangerous technique."

"Thank you. You saved me."

"What are we going to do now?"

"Powerful techniques like that consume a lot of chakra. I'm sure that she will not use it, consecutively." He glanced over his shoulder at the two giants that were fighting in the distance. "With Leviathan in her arsenal, I wouldn't have stood a chance against her. She was telling the truth when she said that I would never defeat her."

"Did you say something, Naruto-sama?" He was looking in the direction of Chiasa.

Naruto reached out and rubbed Kinjo's side. "You should relax. All we have to do is to do our best. There is no sense pressuring ourselves. Summoning Technique: Bakuryu, Cujo!"

"Master."

"Naruto-sama."

"You two and Kinjo will create diversion so that I can get near her," Naruto said.

"Only diversion?" Cujo, the gray wolf, said. "Can't we attack her?"

"Don't harm her, please, if you can."

"Whom are we fighting against, Naruto-sama?" Bakuryu, the black wolf, asked.

"You know her. Her name is Chiasa."

"Chiasa-sama? Why? Did she turn against you?"

"Not really. I'll explain everything once this is over. For now, just listen to what I say."

"Of course, Master. I'm sorry for asking."

Naruto reached out and scratched Bakuryu's jaw. "I'm not scolding, okay."

"Naruto-sama, look," Kinjo said.

Naruto jerked his head towards the direction Kinjo pertained to. The fire was gone. It had been extinguished. Then green orbs of light, hundreds of them, floated up from the place. The magnificence the orbs were creating was breathtaking. The green orbs were like floating lanterns on air.

"I know what they are," Cujo said. "I've read about them. They are called the Amesawa, an extinct species of aerial glowing jellyfish."

"Glowing jellyfish," Naruto muttered. "They're so pretty."

"Pretty but dangerous, Master," Bakuryu said. "They have the ability of sucking in large amounts of dynamic energy with their tentacles. They are used as barrier. They neutralize Ninjutsu, so using Taijutsu is the only way, but once a tentacle touches you, you might die."

"Then Taijutsu it is," Naruto said with a grin.

"Master!"

"Let them grow healthier from sucking my energy. Listen up, guys. Here's the plan. The Third Hokage taught me a powerful Genjutsu, and I'm thinking of using it to enter Chiasa's mind. Keep her confused for a few seconds."

"Are you sure about this, Naruto-sama?" Kinjo asked.

"Trust me. Let's go! Summoning Technique: Gamabunta!"

The boss of toads towered the trees, his green robe flapping listlessly against the wind. He blew smoke out of his wide mouth. "Ah, I'm glad you called onto me. My wife was just sharpening the butcher knife to cut my tongue."

"What did you do this time, boss?"

"I told her that she looked older. Who is it, now?"

"A friend."

"Not again. Are you really a fan of quarrel-type relationships?" He noticed the three wolves below. "Oh, hello, there!"

Kinjo acknowledged Gamabunta's greeting, and then turned back to business. With a nod, he, Cujo, and Bakuryu disappeared into the darkness.

"Looks like you have a plan," Gamabunta said. "It's quite surprising."

"Not a complicated one. I need a large volume of fog. Could you use your Toad Style Smoker's Screen?"

Gamabunta laughed. "My pleasure." His eyes rolled towards Chiasa. "God of toads, is she an Uchiha?"

"She is."

"Quite a beauty."

"Makes you want to be human, huh?" Naruto said. "She summoned the jellyfish because her last offensive attack consumed a lot of chakra. I think she's still recovering her strength."

Gamabunta smiled. "I'm impressed. You can gauge now how much a technique costs."

"Fight with four Hokages for two years and you'll see."

"All right. Here it goes. Myobukuzan Toad Art: Toad Style Smoker's Screen!" Gamabunta sipped from his pipe and blew out a thick cloud of smoke. A large area of the forest was immediately covered with it.

From the opposite direction, sounds of long range attacks boomed into fruition but died out as soon as the attacks reached the cluster of glowing jellyfish.

…

In the middle of the jellyfish cluster, Chiasa calmly contemplated the surrounding. "He knows what he's doing, but the question is, up to what extent?" She closed and opened her hands. "This body sucks. It's not strong enough for my techniques. I should have taken over her body a long time ago and trained hard…only that I would not have been effective as a spy." She felt Naruto's approach. "He's here. Let's see who will last longer."

Naruto came out of the surrounding smoke, running towards her. Chiasa activated the Mangekyou in her right eye. She was about to use a Ninjutsu, when a hundred more Naruto came through the smoke from every direction. She tried to fight them off with Taijutsu, but eventually the clones caught her. They held her in place.

Now she saw a single Naruto approaching from the front. She assessed the chakra of this one and confirmed that it was not a shadow clone. Her right Sharingan rotated and formed a four-bladed pinwheel. "Mangekyou Art: God's Wrath!"

A fist-sized hole appeared in Naruto's chest, and he fell down, blood splattering around. The clones disappeared one by one.

Chiasa knelt down, panting. _Now I need three days before I can use my right eye again. _A smile curled on her lips. _But it's worth it. I won!_

"Don't celebrate, yet!"

Chiasa's eyes widened. "Imperishable clone!"

"Chakra Shape-Shifting Technique: Immobilizing Chains!"

From the ground, chakra chains shot out and wound around Chiasa's wrists, waist, and ankles. Afterwards, Naruto appeared in front of her, and he was so close the tip of their noses touched. Naruto was looking intently in her eyes.

"Genjutsu—"

"Mangekyou Art: Fire Flight!"

Naruto was left with Chiasa's clone, and it exploded.

_He couldn't have escaped that._ Her left Sharingan lost its light and became black. _That's a technique that is both Genjutsu and Ninjutsu. He couldn't have escaped. _She breathed hard. _No. I must make sure. _She pulled a kunai out her belt and inched towards the crater. Naruto was lying on his back at its center. His clothing and skin were badly burned. Clutching the kunai tighter, she went to him. Because Naruto was badly injured and Chiasa was almost drained of chakra, all of the summoned beasts had disappeared.

"You were a hard one, but the better fighter always wins in the end. Goodbye, Jinchuuriki." Chiasa raised the kunai and plunged it down towards his neck. But before she could succeed, Naruto's left hand moved, and with a flicker, went through Chiasa's stomach. He smiled at her, evilly.

"I told you, you can't, but _I _can," he said.

Chiasa, as if resigning to her fate, put her forehead against his, and whispered, "Mind Manipulation Technique: Subconscious Intrusion…"

…

Naruto was now face to face with a unique but beautiful person. Her face had a perfect heart shape, a perfectly formed nose, luscious petal-shaped lips, sexy pencil thin brows, elegant long lashes, and a lot of hair that extended down her ankles. The only thing strange about her was her blue-green dragon scales, her tiger-like golden eyes, and her pointed ears. Except for those, the girl was stunning. She was gaping at Naruto, gaping at something she had expected the least to happen.

Naruto smiled. "Kalua, I presume?"

"You!" She formed hand seals. "Fire Release: Dragon's Breath!" Nothing happened. "Dragon's Breath!"

"This is not a special consciousness chamber like mine where you can use Ninjutsu."

"Then I'll kill you with my bare hands!" She began attacking him.

Naruto raised his hands to shield himself. "Hey, stop! I'm not here to fight!"

"I'll kill you!"

"Stop it!" He lunged at her. She tripped and ended up below him. "Would please calm down?"

"Get off me!" Kalua kicked him in the stomach. He reeled backwards, coughing. Huffing, she scuttled away, her right arm protectively covering her breasts.

"Wait, I give up," Naruto said, raising a hand.

Kalua, ignoring him, looked up at the sky. "Chiasa! Take me out of here! Chiasa!"

"It seems she did this herself."

"She will not do something like this. She is my slave!"

"I think you're busted. She's already realized that everything had been an illusion."

"She's too dumb to realize that. She's been my slave for more than three years."

Naruto watched her for a long time. "Why are you so afraid?"

Kalua's eyes widened. "Afraid? You bastard!" She launched herself at him. Naruto timed her approach and caught her wrists.

"Hey, stop!" Naruto said.

"No!"

"I don't want to fight you!"

"No!"

Naruto pulled her wrists down and swept her legs. They fell down. He spread her arms and put his whole weight over her body.

"Get off me! You're just like them! You also want to kill me because I'm a _monster!_" That seemed to silence the struggle between them. Kalua's face was wet with tears. "Every one of you…You're all the same…No one will want me…"

"Look at me, Kalua. Do you think I dislike you?"

"Anyone can pretend! You don't have a proof! You're flesh is probably crawling now from just touching me!"

Naruto lowered his face and kissed her. Kalua's eyes widened in shock, and they widened even more when he deepened it, without disgust and pretense. She was even sure that he was enjoying himself. She felt the disappearance of Naruto's strength over her wrists, and she took the opportunity to push him away. She forgot all about her anger.

Naruto was blushing. He couldn't look at her. "See? I'm not pretending."

Irritated, Kalua uprooted a patch of lawn and hurled it at Naruto. "Silence!"

Naruto barely shielded himself. "Would you stop with the violence?"

"Huh! Do you think I'll believe that easily?"

Naruto marched her way towards her. "What's with you? I'm not afraid, I'm not disgusted, and I don't dislike you!"

"Are you blind? How can a human accept a woman-dragon like me?"

"Is appearance the most important thing for you?"

"Don't talk as if you know what I've been through!"

Naruto clenched his jaws. "Do you think so?"

Kalua searched his eyes. He was so transparent. She could clearly see what he was thinking, and was frightened of the fact that what she was seeing in his eyes was the truth. "What do you want with me? Why don't you just leave me alone?"

"Because I'm fed up with hatred, and I want to save people like you who are starting to lose their humanity."

"Save me?" She snorted. "Who do you think you are, God? I've already found my purpose in life, Jinchuuriki." She turned her back on him.

Naruto answered with silence. This irritated her.

"Am I not allowed to hate the world for all it's done to me?" she said.

"If you hate the world, the world will hate you back."

"I don't care! The world hated me while I loved it. What will be the difference, now? Tell me!"

Some images of her childhood flashed back in her mind. She remembered sobbing in her knees while the rain bombarded the tree where she was hiding. Water slowly rose up to her ankles, drenching her buttocks and the rags that she wore for her clothes. She suppressed her sobs as best as she could for the townspeople were still searching for her. _Find that demon! Don't stop until you find it! We should kill it before it harms the children!_

"The difference is you will never be able to love yourself," Naruto said.

"How can I love myself? I was hated because I was born like this."

"You should not have given up."

"You don't know what I've been through." She stared into his eyes. "You don't know how much I wanted to wait. I tried to endure, Jinchuuriki. I tried very hard. But humans did things that made me lose faith in them."

"Even still, you should not have given up."

"You don't understand me!"

"I do. I know the pain of being alone, of being hated…of being feared. And as much as possible I don't want other people to experience that pain." He looked up at her. "Aren't we the same?"

"We are not!"

"Isn't it that you don't want other people to feel your pain, too?"

"I wouldn't have joined the Left Wing if I did."

Naruto just stared.

"I'm too deep now to climb back," she said. "I cannot redeem myself anymore."

A smile slowly stretched his lips.

"Are you mocking me? Why are you smiling?"

"If you believe in me, I'll protect you," Naruto said. "You will never be alone anymore."

Kalua took a step backward. "No. You cannot change my mind."

Naruto grabbed her hand. "Trust me. I never take back my words."

Kalua's eyes were swimming now in tears. "I…"

"Trust me, Kalua."

"You…" Kalua put her head on Naruto's chest. "You…" Her throat clenched involuntarily as sobs began to rock her body. And then she wailed. She forgot about who she was. She cried for the fears she felt when she was little, for the loneliness, the desolation. It was the first time in her life that she felt assured. "T-thank you. Thank you very much…" she said in between sobs.

Naruto put his arm around her. "Cry as much as you want."

She put her arms around him and cried louder.

…

Naruto opened his eyes in the darkness, feeling good for his triumph, but as the face above him came into focus, his good feeling instantly disappeared. Chiasa's bloody mouth moved.

"D-don't hate yourself," she whispered. "It's not your fault…"

From Chiasa's back, a spirit like existence slowly departed. It floated down beside him. Gradually, the spirit materialized flesh and became solid. A few seconds later, the spirit became Kalua.

Naruto did not notice this. He was looking straight at Chiasa. He opened his mouth, but words failed him. He knew it was him. Without doubt, he knew he had inflicted the wound.

"Naruto! Naruto!"

The voice of the woman was familiar, but he could not focus on it. Big hands grabbed Chiasa and took her away.

"Naruto! Hey, honey, please answer me!" Again, it was the woman.

"He's going into shock!" Now it was a man. "Damn it, this wound is dangerous, Kushina-san. We need to do something about this."

"Chiasa! Chiasa, oh please God, open your eyes!" Another woman.

"Naruto! Oh, shit!"

"Confuse him! Take his mind away from here!"

"But what should I—Damn it! Oh, Minato, forgive me for what I'm about to do!"

Naruto felt the woman grab his collar and pull him up. Then he felt soft lips over his, and then a tongue went into his mouth. His vision cleared. The electricity brought about by the expert kiss woke his muddled brain. He slowly recognized his mother. His eyes widened in shock. He pulled away from her mouth.

"Why the hell are you kissing me, Mom?" He blinked. He thought he saw her smile. He almost screamed.

"Chiasa is injured. I can't heal something that severe. You need to go to Master Tsunade."

"To Konoha? But how?"

"No one taught you? Haaa…those old men!" She smacked her forehead. "Isn't it that you can go in and out a beast's world?"

"Yes, but you can only use one door. You leave from and return to the same place. You cannot use it to cross long distances in the human world, Mom."

"You can, but there is a special condition. As what you said, Summoning Technique is based upon the concept of opening dimensional doors across the human and another world. To go from one place to another in the human world, you need to sacrifice a name of a summon under a summoning contract. If you don't want to lose your strongest, you can ask your beast friends for a contract on the spot and use it for the technique. Because you are a Toad Sage, it's better if you use Myobukuzan as your dimensional medium."

"That's right! I think I left some clothes at Fukasaku-ojii-chan's place."

"Hurry! Time is the enemy."

"Okay." Naruto stood up.

Kushina held his arm. "That kiss was to wake you up, okay? Don't get the wrong idea."

Naruto looked at her, doubtfully. "Thank you, Mom."

Kushina punched him. "You moron! Don't thank your mother for that!"

"Owww…What do you want me to say?"

"Anything, but don't thank me!"

Naruto put on a serious face. "Mom, you pervert."

Kushina kicked his butt.

"Kushina-san, Naruto, hurry!" Katsuo called out.

Naruto bit his thumb as he lifted Chiasa on his arm. "Before I forget, that girl over there is my friend. Take care of her, okay?"

"What's her name?" Kushina asked.

"She's Kalua." Naruto thrust his thumb to the ground and disappeared into smoke.

Everything had been an illusion. That was what Kalua had admitted to Naruto. Akiko, the War Leader's son, and the command that the Kalulan tribe should be annihilated. So, when Kalua released her powerful Genjutsu, everyone she had put under it felt that they had forgotten something. The two shadows of the Left Wing that Kalua had deceived into attacking Kalulan found themselves at a loss for words when they realized that they were travelling for nothing. They did not remember anything. Unsure of what they were doing in the forest of Hashaboro, they decided to return to their base.

While drinking tea at the small fire of their camp, Talim frowned when he heard something click in his head. He turned to Agila. "Father, it feels strange. I feel relieved about something I can't place what."

Agila closed his eyes and sighed. "So do I, my son. So do I."

…

Tsunade was suppressing her temper as she thought of how to counter the Tetsukage's question. The old man with the pair of metal gray eyes had just demanded from her Naruto's location and the name of his protector. He said that his village had only agreed upon the alliance because of Uzumaki Naruto, and it was their right to know everything about his whereabouts. The assembly room was filled with important people. It was the day of the assembly Tsunade had scheduled prior to her announcement that Naruto was alive. The assembly was also meant to discuss preparations for Orochimaru's attack that, according to the same suicide who had disclosed the information about Naruto, would happen in two months. All of the Alliance's Kage were there: the Yukikage, Raikage, Kazekage, Tsuchikage, Mizukage, and Tetsukage. They were with their respective secretaries and second-in-commands. Clan heads of Konoha and high-ranking Jonin had been also required to attend. Among Naruto's peers, there was Hinata, Chouji, Sai, and Kiba.

"Tetsukage-dono, I apologize but I can't share that information right now," Tsunade said, massaging her temples. "We don't know who to trust, yet."

"Do you mean to say that you are suspecting us?"

"It's not what I mean. Tetsukage-dono, I've already told you what I _can._ I'm closing that subject right now."

The Tetsukage stood up. "I'm a very cautious man, Tsunade-dono. If the enemy can replicate a dead body, it will be easier for them to mislead you with wrong information. I'm leaving."

"Tetsukage-dono, please. I can assure you that the information is legit."

"I'm not listening to you until you show me proof." He said to his men, "Let's go. We are finished here."

"Tetsukage-dono—"

Smoke suddenly exploded at the center of the room. Everyone was surprised. ANBU units surrounded the origin of the smoke, there weapons out, ready to kill. The Jonins immediately moved in front of the Kages. Kakashi had his Chidori in his left hand.

"I need your help, obaa-chan."

Tsunade perked up. There was only one person in the world who had that voice. "Are you…"

The smoke thinned and faded, showing a young man with bushy blonde hair, carrying in his arms a black-haired girl.

"Naruto?" Tsunade said.

He grinned. "Hi, Grandma! Miss me?"

Sound in the room ceased to exist as everybody held their breath.

…

"Kalua kawaii!" Kushina hugged Kalua, and laughed.

"K-Kushina-san…"

Setsuko and Katsuo could only sigh.

"She seems cheerful," Katsuo said.

"_Too_ cheerful," Setsuko said, crossing her arms. "And that idiot said _mother._"

_To be continued…_


	56. Chapter 56

Chapter 56: The Last Rhyme

Naruto could see the astonishment on Tsunade's face. He liked seeing that expression—for the most part, that is, when the reason was inside the playful boundary. He thought that his greeting was just appropriate for the occasion.

"What are you doing here?" Tsunade asked. She sounded horrified.

The giddiness he felt from catching Tsunade off-guard disappeared as her question reminded him of his purpose for returning to Konoha.

"Oh, right! Grandma, I need your help."

Shizune, who was beside Tsunade all this time, immediately went around the pulpit to see Chiasa.

"This wound was made by hand," Shizune said. She looked up at Naruto, giving him a reassuring smile. "But no major organs are damaged. She must have been very skilled to avoid a fatal hit at such close range."

"Shizune-san…"

"Tanbaru!"

The medical-nin rushed out of the room and came back with two paramedics carrying a stretcher.

"Medical personnel are always on standby, just in case," Shizune said.

"Who's calling me old? Ouch, my back!"

"Tsuchikage-sama!"

Shizune smiled. "Cases like that."

Tanbaru carefully lifted Chiasa from Naruto's arms and placed her on the stretcher.

Naruto finally realized where he crashed into. He looked around and found familiar faces in the crowd. He could see relief and joy in their faces. The Tsuchikage wiped his eyes as he grumbled, "My back, my back." Iruka grinned at him, but tears were flowing from his eyes. Hinata's face was in her father's chest, and Hiashi was rubbing her back. Her shoulders shook, and from her he heard muffled sobs. He heard Temari hiss, "That fucking idiot," before she turned around and exhaled. Then, finally, he felt warm hands on his back. Shizune was embracing him.

"Welcome back," she said, and buried her face in his chest.

…

The meeting proceeded smoothly. Tsunade asked Naruto to join them that the latter accepted. He went to sit with Gaara, beside Temari, who was blushing throughout the entire meeting. Their eyes met twice, and she overheated and stiffened each time. Naruto, being himself, expressed his concern by asking medical assistance for Temari, whom he thought was sick. Temari excused herself from the hall out of embarrassment the second time Naruto raised his hand for the same purpose. When Naruto asked Gaara if Temari was okay, he answered him with, "You are the virus." Naruto could only scratch his head in confusion.

Naruto had his chance to talk when Tsunade called him to the front of the assembly. He told them a filtered version of his experiences, leaving out information like Hashirama's existence and the ancient clans of Konoha. He expressed his gratitude for their concern that they welcomed with applause.

"I'm going back to Sanmyaku," he finally said.

"What?" This was the Raikage.

"We need you here, Naruto," Gaara said. "Your fight is here. Sasuke is still alive, and the Akatsuki's operation is concentrated in this region."

"Now that Orochimaru and the First Son have come back to haunt us, we need your strength all the more," the Mizukage said.

"The First Son?"

"Yes, Naruto." Now it was Tsunade who answered. "Orochimaru's spy told us about him. It appears that Orochimaru has brought him back with Edo Tensei. We are not worried of his strength. As a summon of Edo Tensei, he can only kill one person. We are under the impression that Madara is using him to train Sasuke, but we're not sure, yet. However, if that were the case, no one would be able to defeat Sasuke but you."

"So Sasuke is really alive."

"Unfortunately," the Raikage said.

Naruto flinched, as if pricked by a needle.

Nara Shikaku raised his hand. "We should let him leave, Master Hokage." All eyes turned on him.

"What are you talking about?"

"We can handle Orochimaru ourselves, but we can't if Madara is with him."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Madara will not waste his time crushing a small village. He is still busy with collecting the Bijus. I'm sure he doesn't know that Naruto is here right now. If we base our presumption on the information that Orochimaru's spy knew, it is more likely that Madara will target Sanmyaku."

"Shikaku-oji-san is right," Naruto said. "I will just attract harm if I stay here. Please, Grandma. He might take Sasuke with him, too."

A brief silence followed as the head of the villages considered Shikaku's argument.

"Don't think that we will just let you go that easily," the Tsuchikage said after awhile.

"But Gramps…" Naruto turned to the short old man with pleading eyes.

"I agree with Nara-san, but we will not let you leave by yourself."

"I'll send Temari with you," Gaara said. "She is a good tactician, and she compliments your style of fighting."

"All right!" Tsunade said, slapping the table with her hand. Her brows were knitted together. "Then Sai will also go with you."

Naruto smiled. He did not need any, but two great companions were a pleasant bonus. "Thank you, Grandma."

Shikaku raised his hand again. Tsunade shot swords and daggers at him. Shikaku gulped the rising panic down his throat.

"Not again, but let's hear it."

"I recommend that Naruto take Karin as well."

"Karin?"

"Yes. She knows about Madara, and her chakra-sensing ability is topnotch. She can help us locate Jocho Shizumaru."

"Shikaku, what you are suggesting is impossible. She is an enemy of Konoha. It's definitely a 'no' this time."

"From our interrogations, we found out that her psychological state is that of a normal girl. She doesn't exhibit abnormal behavior, and her emotional fluctuations are stable. She can be an asset if given a chance."

"Are you talking about the girl with the glasses? The cool girl with the red hair?" Naruto asked.

Temari perked up. She was eavesdropping at the door. Simultaneously, a glint of fighting spirit appeared in Hinata's gray eyes.

"She's the one, Naruto."

"Oh, yeah, I remember her! I think she's a nice girl."

Temari and, uncharacteristically, Hinata expressed annoyance with a murderous but quiet "Tch."

"I can't believe this," Tsunade said.

"This is our chance, Master Tsunade," Shikaku said. "This way we can cover both the east and the west."

"I don't normally acquiesce to this kind of arrangement," the Raikage interjected. "But Nara-san's argument is reasonable. Isn't it that the Uchiha brat tried to kill her?"

"Yamanaka Inoichi can testify that this girl genuinely hates Akatsuki and Uchiha Sasuke."

Tsunade massaged her temples, and sighed. "Shikaku, this is not that easy."

"I'll be responsible for her, Grandma," Naruto said. "Please."

"Do you know what you're saying? Naruto, this Karin had been a dog of Orochimaru. She was also with Sasuke when he tried to abduct Killer Bee and attack the Kage Summit. We cannot trust her."

"I think she was forced to do those things."

Tsunade stared at Naruto for a long time. Then she sighed and nodded. "All right. But promise—"

"You will not regret it, Grandma!"

"Then I will go, too," Hinata said. She was lightly trembling, as she was not used to speaking in public. She had her eyes hardened with determination. Her mouth was a thin, red line. "I-I'll go, too, Master Tsunade."

Tsunade turned to Hinata. She stared at her pretty face, amused, and then she smiled. "I might have expected this response from you."

"I-I-I-I-I'm not jealous, okay!" Hinata declared with a red face. "I-I-I mean…" She turned to see Naruto's reaction.

Naruto just stared at her for a moment. A blush crept into his face when he remembered her confession back when he was fighting Pain. The two of them, as if the action was scripted, looked away from each other. The atmosphere in the hall was one of total awkwardness.

Temari tapped the floor with the metal rib of her giant fan. Nobody noticed how she had managed to get to the space between Naruto and Hinata in a flash. "This is becoming silly, Hokage-dono. Please, if you have something else to say, get on with it."

"Such an impertinent brat! Kids these days," the Tsuchikage commented, shaking his head. But he seemed to be enjoying himself.

"I'm sorry, Lord Tsuchikage," Gaara said, standing up and making an apologetic bow. "Temari! Apologize for you rude behavior, now!"

Temari shot Gaara with a poisonous glare. "_Ane-ue,_ Gaara, I'm your Ane-ue."

Gaara could only stare.

Kankuro, Suna's master puppeteer and Gaara's older brother, whispered, "Her fuse is lit. Don't add fuel." His kabuki-style painted face made him look rough, but it was now full of genuine concern. "You know her. Remember that sand storm she brought to Suna at the fake Naruto's interment? Even the elder couldn't stop her."

Naruto said, "Gaara is right, Temari-san—"

"Would you stop with the honorifics?"

"Yes, of course! I'm sorry." Naruto considered what to say. "A-are you mad about something?"

Temari scowled. "Tch."

"My, my, Uzumaki-san is quite popular with the girls," the Mizukage said, her green eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Oh, yes, he is…" the Yukikage said. She touched the edge of the circular counter. Suddenly, it froze and broke in her grip.

A drop of sweat rolled down the Mizukage's cheek. "I can see that…"

The cheery red lips of the most beautiful girl in the meeting room stretched into a crooked smile. "You won't understand because you're too old for that, Mizukage-sama."

A thick vein popped out from the Mizukage's temple. "What. Did. You. Say?" She was smiling, but evilly.

One of the Yukikage's bodyguards leaned over and whispered to his master, "Princess, the Mizukage doesn't appreciate topics about age and marriage. Please refrain from doing so."

At the same time, Ao, the Mizukage's most trusted shinobi, told his master, "Mizukage-dono, don't forget why we are here, please."

Like chided children, the two women apologized to each other, but their smiles were fake.

"All right, all right," Tsunade said. The dignity of the meeting resurfaced at the sound of her voice. "Temari, Sai, and Hinata. I'm counting on you three."

The three acknowledged her request.

"Shikaku, this will be the last time I go with your crazy ideas."

"Thank you very much, Master Hokage," Shikaku said.

"I don't have a choice if every one of you is making such puppy faces." Tsunade stood up. "With everything now accounted for, this meeting is adjourned. Naruto, promise me that you'll be very careful around her."

Naruto grinned. "Um! I promise."

…

_This_ _lightning kid is really talented._ This thought stayed on Killer Bee's mind as he plowed through the forest with his Lariat in five tails. The trees were transformed into black dust, burned by the high temperature of his chakra. It had only been five minutes since they began their fight, and neither of them had landed a single hit on each other. Sasuke had skillfully dodged his attempts, and so had he. In Kumo standards—awfully high, mind you—he was considered as the fastest, if rating did not include the Raikage. But even so, he could not close the gap between them up to eight meters. The frustrating thing about it was that he was already using five out of his maximum eight tails transformation. If he was fighting fifty Chuunin, he might have only taken 913 seconds; Jonins, 1640 seconds. Only the Raikage and the higher ups would manage to defend against his current speed. It was starting to get on his nerves.

_And this kid hasn't activated his Mangekyou Sharingan, yet. Is he still on the stage of studying me? I need to jump a level higher, then._

He did not know how Sasuke had managed to grow this good. Maybe the presence of the scary guy who was watching over the fight had something to do with it. The last time they fought, Sasuke was not even strong enough to make him _that_ serious. His interest was pricked into attention, but that was it. Compared to Naruto, the Sasuke that time was just an amusing but irritating bug. Now _this_ guy was different. Not only did he perk his interest up. Now it included his discretion, his concentration, and his sense of urgency.

_All right. Shiriai will not do if I want to defeat you._

Bee stopped moving and deactivated his Biju transformation.

Sasuke said, "With that level of skill, I don't have to use my Mangekyou Sharingan on you."

"Brat of chat, awful than a rat, I'm enough of my bluff, now for serious stuff."

"Don't get me wrong, but you're a_ terrible_ poet."

"I make it terrible on purpose, fools think its doofus, but it's not, man, it's hot!"

"Shut up!" Sasuke unsheathed his Kusanagi. "Time for serious business, huh? I want to see your reaction after I shatter it to pieces."

"O-I-C," Bee said, grinning. "I'm not really planning to use this on anyone, but I don't have a choice." He made the seal for Ox. "High jump, brother, here comes Shihai!"

Chakra burst out from Bee for a few seconds, and then it reverted back inside him. At that instant, the surrounding went silent. The silence was unnerving, and Sasuke gripped his sword tighter. His calm eyes continued to watch Bee.

Bee made a deliberate exhale, and disappeared. Sasuke's eyes opened wide as a fist buried itself into his stomach. His retch was too slow to come. The acceleration kicked too fast that his bodily reactions were left behind by a light year. He lost his Kusanagi, and he bounced on the ground multiple times like a thrown stone on water. The First Son could not believe his eyes.

"Hey, old guy, mind a question?" Bee had his arm on the First Son's shoulder. He looked at his hand, clenching and unclenching it. "That was surprising. It wasn't that strong before." He shrugged and get on to business. "The question is: are you, with those eyes of yours, the one who made the fake Naruto? Heard it from that cool guy with the scarred face. Are you one Jocho Shizumaru? All I know about him is he got a pair of weird eyes."

With a speed equivalent to Bee's, the First Son made a palm strike reminiscent of Jyuuken, and Bee could barely shield himself. He was pushed a few meters away.

"Hohoho, that was unexpected," Bee said, grinning. "Well, it answers everything. With those rough hands, it is impossible for you to mold clay, how much more a body." He flicked his fingers and the boulder behind the First Son exploded. The dust went in and out, but the only movement noticeable from the First Son was the flap of his black robe.

"Whatever you do, I'll stay as a spectator," the First Son said.

Bee's smirk disappeared. He looked at the First Son with doubt in his eyes. "Is this a cheap Genjutsu?"

Ignoring him, the First Son raised his arm in Sasuke's direction. "Looks like your opponent is back on his feet. Don't mind my existence here."

Sasuke stood up amidst dust and debris and, with his right hand, called on to his Kusanagi. The sword flew back in his hand like metal to magnet.

"A worthy opponent," Sasuke said with a smirk. He wiped the blood from his chin. "Now's my turn!"

From the clump of dust came a purple chakra giant with a sword and a gourd. The glowing eyes of the giant glared at Bee. It looked like a man cloaked in a shroud with a bird headgear. The headgear only showed the man's nose and eyes, and the peculiar thing about it was that the protrusions that made up the beaks seemed to have been twisted into a spiral.

"Susanoo," Bee muttered. "Let's see how my speed will fare against it."

Bee kicked the ground and disappeared. His fist was like a cannon ball as it hit Susanoo square in the chest. A crack appeared on Susanoo's supposedly invincible armor. Sasuke's face twisted in disbelief. Bee twirled a dagger around his right wrist, stabbed the center of the crack with it, and then hammered it into Susanoo. The dagger bored through the chakra armor and created a large explosion at the ground where it landed. The crack on Susanoo spread out, and finally it shattered like glass.

"How…" Sasuke muttered, frozen in place.

Unrelenting, Bee shifted his focus on Sasuke. Upon landing, he brought his elbow into Sasuke's chest, jumped, and sent an axe-kick down his head. Sasuke staggered backward, his consciousness fading. Without mercy, Killer Bee spun in circles, raised his left leg, and kicked Sasuke in the stomach. The force sent Sasuke flying through the cliff, demolishing it.

Bee made a circle around his mouth with his hands and yelled, "Heeeeey! Don't make me wait too long!" He turned to the First Son. "I get the feeling that this kid is just playing around. Is he?"

The First Son just smiled.

During the minutes he waited for his opponent to come out, dark clouds began forming overhead. Bee noticed this and looked up. "Wow, are you serious? Has he reached that level already?" Lightning streaked through the dark clouds, illuminating their underbellies. "This will be fun. How many times did he try to use Genjutsu on me? Four, that many? Didn't he realize that he would not be able to put me under any illusion, especially now that I'm in Shihai? Oh, okay. I know I'm not him. But still—wait, here he comes. Just sit back and relax, Hachibi."

Sasuke's eyes were intense with madness. His Mangekyou Sharingan showed, and as he looked down at Bee, blood flowed out from his right eye. "Amaterasu: Bird of the Black Flames." A large hawk made of the black flames of hell, which burned anything and was impossible to extinguish, dived down towards Bee. Bee leaped away, leaving the hawk to dig into the ground. The ground collapsed onto itself like it was originally hollow. Black flames spurt out in jets, burning the trees, the boulders, and the ground alike.

"Whoa, that's hot, black-flame hot!" Bee said. "Once touched, I'm toast."

The black flame hawk shot out from the ground, screeching. Bee evaded it with his speed, pulling out two daggers from his back and running towards Sasuke. The hawk followed him into the forest. The trees that its wings touched blazed up in black flames, while those that were close enough but not in contact were lit in red flames.

Bee pumped his legs and circled around the large trunks and roots, concealing his presence from Sasuke while acquiring additional distance from the black flame hawk. He was planning to ambush Sasuke who was still standing at the top of the cliff. The forest was now ablaze with black and red flames, like a cruel but destructive joke of nature.

Using his speed and strong legs, Bee climbed up the cliff. His daggers were now glowing with blue chakra. He reached the top and ahead of him was Sasuke's defenseless back.

"You're finished, kid," Bee muttered, as he cut forward. The tip of his blade approached centimeter by centimeter, and as he began to rejoice his impending victory, something unexpected happened. A white blade of light sprung out from Sasuke's lower back and impaled Bee through his left lung, barely missing his heart. Of course, if he had caught sight of the blade's tip, he could have dodged. He had already covered the possibility of the Kusanagi going out of the ground or from one of Sasuke's sides. But through the back?

Bee looked up in shock. "Are you this desperate to win that you're willing to sacrifice even your own body?"

The sword retreated and Sasuke turned around. "I'm different from you. I have goals that are waiting to be fulfilled."

Bee noticed that Sasuke was not minding his wound that was now beginning to soak his robe with crimson. He smiled. "I see. So the Genjutsu that you couldn't cast on me, you cast on yourself."

Sasuke raised his sword and attacked. Bee tried his best to defend himself with his daggers, but Sasuke overwhelmed him. The Genjutsu had erased the _fact_ that he was wounded; he might not be feeling pain at this moment.

_A genius to the end._ _Admirable. It's just fortunate that someone was born to be a match for him. Right, Naruto? I'll do my best here, kid, even if it would mean just delaying this man a second more from reaching you._

"I know, Hachibi," Bee muttered. "Wounds inflicted by the Kusanagi are slow to heal. It might take hours even with your chakra."

Sasuke must have detected that his wound had momentarily frozen him, for the Uchiha thrust his Kusanagi. He managed to turn, and the sword hit a lower rib, shattering it. Bee caught the pain by clenching his jaws.

Killer Bee grabbed Sasuke's hand. "Your head is mine, kid." A black ball materialized in front of his mouth.

…

Sasuke was not moving, and he was sure that he would not. From where he was, the First Son could see him taking on a peaceful expression on his face. _No. This is not happening!_ The black ball gradually increased in size, and Sasuke only smiled at it, as if relieved that he was about to die. _Relieved?_ _Wait, something is wrong! The compassion he showed…sparing his enemies…_

"Bee-san!"

A ninja was fast approaching towards the two, and the First Son made his move.

…

Bee could only gape as the Bijudama at his mouth suddenly disappeared. Even Sasuke was surprised with the turn of events.

"Bee-san!"

The Kumo ninja pulled out his Ninjato.

The First Son appeared and pushed Killer Bee away from Sasuke. Blood rained around.

The Kumo ninja approached with the tip of his Ninjato aimed at Sasuke's temple. Out of instinct, the First Son crushed the ninja's head with his right hand, instantly killing him. And then he began to turn into dust.

"But before I'm gone…" The First Son raised his forefinger and poked Sasuke's forehead. "That should do it. Madara, you bastard. Not a Genjutsu but a manipulation of memories. I don't know what you plan on doing with this, but I'm happy to die here before I use this temporary life to kill you."

Sasuke's eyes rolled into his skull, and he screamed at the dark sky, in front of the fading body of the Sage of Six Path's eldest child.

…

"Itachi…" Sasuke muttered. "Itachi! ITACHI!"

Bee, clutching at his wounds, catching some of the blood on his hand, letting some he could not contain to slip through, stood up. "We need to finish this now, Hachibi. I feel something bad about this." He exhaled through his teeth when he saw the corpse of the Kumo ninja. "Shintaro. Damn it." He turned back to Sasuke, gripping his daggers. "I need to end this now."

Bee closed the distance in one leap, raised the blade of his dagger, and slashed. Sasuke abruptly stopped screaming and rolled his quivering Sharingan towards Bee. A purple skeleton chakra shot out from the ground and took hold of Bee's arm.

_Shit, this is bad!_

Sasuke's Sharingan quivered. Bee felt uncomfortable watching it. He struggled to get away from the painful grip of the chakra skeleton.

Now Sasuke smiled, and before the sting reached his mind, Bee noticed something. _That is…_but he could not finish the thought as the pain conquered his senses. The skeleton chakra had ripped his arm off.

The Hachibi healed the stump to stop the bleeding and ease the pain. Recovering his composure, Bee leaped away. "I can't escape, Hachibi. I can't involve the village. I have no choice, now. I need your help."

_Are you planning to use our incomplete Yuujo?_

"It's the only way. I think, with the Bijudama's linear trajectory, he can easily dodge it. I don't have enough _consciousness_ to think of diversions, anymore. The wounds inflicted by the Kusanagi are killing me."

_But…_

"Just one shot. I need just one shot, Hachibi."

_Do I have a choice?_

"Thank you."

_Tch. Acting soft, now?_

From below, Sasuke watched him with his quivering Sharingan.

Bee put a dagger between his teeth and gripped another in his remaining hand. "One shot, friend."

_Yeah. One shot._

Bee grinned. "Let's do this."

Killer Bee formed four unique hand seals that represented north, south, east, and west: the Turtle, the Phoenix, the Byakko, and the Dragon. He was doing what the Hakke Fuin seal had told Naruto about, the _first form_ of Yuujo. "Ura no Saikyoiku no Dankai! Ura no Kumiawase no Dankai! Ura no Shiriai no Dankai! Ura no Shihai no Dankai! Activate: Yuujo no Dankai!"

The gigantic red ox with eight octopus tentacles, arms and feet chained with chakra, sprung out from Killer Bee's chest and flew towards Sasuke. Bee kicked his leg and leaped after the large beast, daggers ready to kill.

Sasuke stared up, Sharingan still quivering. The ox roared, shaking the earth, but he just stared. Then his Sharingan stabilized. Two black tomoe surfaced on the right and left side of his Sharingan. As one would comment, he had three irises on each eye, two a little smaller and tomoe shaped, but three nonetheless. Without knowing it, Sasuke had just unleashed the mythical Saiga Sharingan that no one, even Madara, believed to exist.

Sasuke leaped through the giant ox without difficulty, like an arrow through paper. No emotion was on his face.

Bee knew it the moment he felt the smooth coldness of Sasuke's chakra. He knew it was his loss. He gave Sasuke a smile of acceptance.

"Raijin no Jutsu: The Curse of the Uchiha Shroud."

In desperation, Bee thrust forward his chakra-imbued blade. But he knew it was no use.

He knew.

…

The giant ox rampaged at the sight of his Jinchuuriki's defeat, but like how the Kyubi once said, Sasuke had chakra more sinister than Madara's, potentially more lethal than the tailed-beasts. Sasuke defeated the giant ox. No sweat.

Madara appeared and sealed the ox into the Heretical Demon Statue. Once fed, another of its eyes opened—a successful containment.

Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan, and with them the black tomoe irises, but Madara noticed them beforehand.

_I can't be wrong! Those are the irises of the Saiga Sharingan. This child…_

"Now I know why that guy was opposed to the idea of transplanting Itachi's eyes to you," Madara said. "Where is he, by the way?"

"Gone," Sasuke simply said. "Hey, I want to confirm something. Is it true that Naruto is still alive?"

"Who told you?"

"Last words of a dying man."

"He is."

"I see." Sasuke looked up at the sky. "Itachi must be up there, now, don't you think?"

With that, Sasuke walked away. And with that, Madara understood why there was a second body besides the Jinchuuriki.

…

The man was slumped on the ground, bathing in his own blood, but he did not look pitiful. He looked strong. Even with his back arching over and full of holes, as if a robe stitched with spikes had been wrapped around him, you could have only seen a strong and contented man.

A small bird flew down to his shoulder and chirped. A few seconds later, a group of them flapped and perched on the man. They were curious of him.

He was not dead, yet, so he gave them a smile. "Pathetic, am I? But because you are here, I'll tell you a rhyme, maybe my best. Listen.

"The blade of dew covets its light, the only blemish on a dark night. But deep within, even then, the blade of dew won't hold a pen. For to praise a light of such cruelty, means letting go of his purity."

The man took his last breath…

"Damn, I loved my life."

…and died.

_To be continued…_


	57. Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Human Cycle of Things

The original Konoha prison, which had been located near the ANBU East Headquarters, was now gone. Many prisoners had died, but lucky ones had managed to escape. These were the prisoners on the loosest level of security. The Head Warden, Zama Itsuki, sixty years old, still had no explanation why the prisoners who died had not revived, but he was thankful for it, however evil that may sound. After knowing that Pain was the one who had given their life back, he wanted to thank the lunatic. That was what he boasted around, but he did not wish to meet with the freak ever again, even on his second life.

The prisoners were now imprisoned at the underground temple dungeon of the Monks of the Sacred Phoenix. The place was dark, and the installation of lighting fixtures had been very trying. It had taken them two weeks to finish. The dungeon had four levels with a hundred cells each. The cells were cubes of six feet, no windows, a single latrine opposite the bed. Right now, only sixty-four cells were occupied. Lights came off at ten, came on at six. Prisoners were given decent meals three times a day. Zama Itsuki always made sure that those who behaved got better treatment. And by better treatment he meant no curses, a bath three times a week, and if he felt like it, a story or two on current events.

Itsuki was surprised to see Kakashi that morning. He was with a tall, red-haired boy. The boy's red hair caught his attention.

"A relative?" Itsuki said.

"Yes," Kakashi said. "This is Karin's brother."

"Oh, the girl with the glasses, I see. Come."

Itsuki led them down the stairs going to the third level. The place was cool. Another noticeable thing about it was the silence. The prisoners did not mock or cry out at the sight of a free human being passing them by.

"These people are well-behaved," Kakashi said.

"I treat them well, Kakashi. They know their rewards." They reached the last step. "I won't go on further. Here's the key. That girl is the most behaved among _us,_ anyway_. _Boy, are you a shinobi?"

"Y-yes, oji-san," the red-head said.

"What rank?"

"J-Jonin, sir!"

Itsuki cackled. "Hey, Kakashi, are you sure he's just a sibling? I got the feeling that he's _more_ than that." He shook his head and smiled. "Take your time. I'll be upstairs. You can talk to her inside the cell if you're that confident. Just make sure to lock it before you leave."

"T-thank you, oji-san!"

"So much for the transformation, boy." Itsuki reached out and messed his red hair. "Long time no see. Have you been gone that long that you forgot that I'm a sensor?"

The surprise on the red-head's face slowly faded into relief. "Busted."

Itsuki cackled once more and left.

"Wait for me here, sensei," Naruto said, doffing off his disguise.

"Ah."

…

Karin heard the footsteps in the corridor and thought, inquiries again. She sighed. That had been her life for the past three months. She was nothing more but an information cache to Konoha. She didn't care about Orochimaru and Sasuke anyway, so cooperating with them was not that hard, only tiring. She was forced to repeat the process again and again. Once done, she always felt exhausted and in need of a long sleep. She got a nice meal and a hot bath every time her interrogators were pleased, so she thought that it was not that bad. _Only tiring._

Now someone was standing at the door to her cell. She wished that it was a woman this time. The vulgar woman—not in speech, but in clothing—who only wore a net guard beneath her overcoat, named Anko, was the gentlest of all. If she could, she would have already requested for her to oversee the depositions. She inhaled and put on her most cheerful expression.

"Excuse me."

Karin sighed. _A man._ She got up and faced the door. Once seeing who it was, she froze. The young man looked familiar.

"May I have some of your time?" the young man said.

"Y-yes. Of course." She felt herself getting excited. From the first day of her birth, she had liked pretty things. She grew up with that kind of obsession. The man was blond. He had blue eyes, an oval face, and a warm aura. He was easily one of the most handsome men she had ever seen in her life. "C-come in."

"Thank you."

Now that they were only feet apart, her jaw dropped. _This guy looks like a woman!_ He looked older than her by a year, he was several inches taller, and he was well-built.

The blond boy smiled, taking her breath away. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, if you can still remember."

Karin stared. "Yeah, hi. My name is Karin…" Her eyes grew wide. "You're _that_ Naruto? Are you kidding me?"

Naruto laughed.

The fascination suddenly disappeared. As she remembered, she had met Naruto only once. It was the time when Konoha shinobis had rescued her from Sasuke. That Naruto was so much different from the one standing in front of her. That Naruto had been a _kid._ Warm, kind, charming, but a kid, nonetheless. Now this guy gave her the feeling of depth and maturity. His charm was not brought forth by childish innocence but by a tangible determination in his eyes. His chakra, although the darkness was still there, had become warmer. It felt like an expensive wine in the mouth, sweet with a bitter aftertaste, but extremely delightful.

She did not know how it happened, but suddenly she felt a forehead touching hers.

"Your temperature is normal, but why are you all red?" Naruto said.

Karin stepped back. "What are you doing?"

"I'm checking your temperature. You suddenly froze up and your face was too red it made me panic."

She wiped her forehead as if getting rid of a cow's saliva. "Well, you can _ask._ We are not friends, we are not related, and we are not lovers! You're a stranger, and your action just now can be considered sexual harassment!"

"Hey, I was just checking your temperature!"

"A touch is a touch! I have never let anyone touch me except if I allowed it, you idiot!"

Naruto gulped in panic, and to her, it was kind of funny. "All right. My bad, I'm sorry," he said. "I'm just a little concerned, you know."

Karin looked at him, doubtfully. "Are you sure you were not taking advantage of me because I'm a prisoner?"

"What are you taking me for, a pervert? Wait a minute. Are they treating you badly here? Are they doing something that is against your will?"

Karin gaped. "What? Do you think I'll let them do anything to me? Besides, don't imply bad things about Itsuki-san! He's been nice to me ever since."

Naruto sighed, and she did not understand why her heart soared upon hearing it. "I apologize if I made you uncomfortable. I was just really trying to know if you had a fever."

"For your information, my face was red because of you."

"It was my fault?"

"I was frightened when I saw you."

Naruto frowned. "Isn't it that when you are frightened you become pale?"

Karin tried to respond to it, but no words came out her mouth.

Naruto said, "And why would I be frightening? My friends told me that I looked like my mother, and my mother is really pretty."

_He is thick-headed. How cute._ "Let's dump it, okay. I forgive you. Why did you decide to visit me, anyway?"

Naruto had his thumb at his chin, thinking. "That's new. The face will become red when frightened…"

Seeing this, Karin laughed. "Will you please realize it already? Did you know that you have just shattered my good impression of you?"

"What good impression?"

Karin giggled. "Stop. You're filling my heart up. It's not a good thing to do to me. I'm the clingy type, you know. You might regret it."

After a long silence, Naruto said, "Honestly, I don't get you."

"I'm just trying to tell you that I'd prefer, anytime, the warm and cozy bedroom with cute teddy bears and hippos from the elegant and chic hotel room with nothing but the view and expensive furniture." Off Naruto's confused look, Karin said, "Let's go on to business. What do you want to talk with me about?"

"Oh, yeah. I have a proposal to make."

"Let's hear it."

"By the way, did you know that Sasuke is still alive?"

"Yeah. Itsuki-san keeps me up to date. I know all about you and that guy."

Naruto nods. "Okay, so about the proposal, will you be willing to work with us?"

Karin drew up her guard. Work with them? "I'm already working with you. I provide everything I know about Orochimaru and Taka, remember?"

"It's not the kind of work that we have in mind. We want to recruit you for your chakra-sensing abilities."

Karin frowned.

"We are hunting down a guy named Jocho Shizumaru, and Nara-san believes that you can be an asset in capturing him."

"What are you talking about?" Karin asked. "Do you mean to say that you'll forget my crimes just like that?"

"You're just an accomplice, anyway, and I think you wouldn't have done those things on your own."

Karin couldn't believe her ears. Naruto's proposal was irrefutably outrageous. "Are all of you people insane?"

"I think Nara-san just can't accept that a young and talented shinobi will waste her life inside a dark and reeking cell."

Karin looked down to hide her eyes. "I don't have a family. I don't have friends. I don't have a village to come back to. And worst of all, I'm a criminal. I have many faces, and yet you're willing to trust me. That is just plain stupid, Naruto. I know what you really plan on doing with me."

"If you're thinking that Konoha will just _use _you like a tool, think again. It is not this village's style. Besides, I'm here. I won't let anyone treat you badly. So? This is a big opportunity for you to correct your mistakes."

Karin turned her back on him. "Naruto, what impression did you have the first time you saw me?"

"Well…"

"Forget it. I'm sure you did not notice me."

"You kept on doing your duty as a friend. That even though Sasuke had already betrayed you, you still couldn't let go of the fact that you were his companion. You clung onto that belief until the end. You are a loyal person, and the truth is, since that day, I have wanted to be your friend. I envy Sasuke that he had you."

"I'm getting frightened again."

"Did I say something wrong? Oh, I forgot. His name must be…sorry."

"It's not that. Do you know why I liked Sasuke?"

"He saved you, right, back at the Chuunin Exam?"

Karin was surprised to hear that. Sasuke was not the type to brag about things, and as a sensor, she knew that there had been no one else around that time. How did he know? _Don't tell me…_

She turned around. They stared at each other. A ghost of a smile was on his lips. "I can sue you for deception, you know. That dream was too long I thought it must be real." _So that's the reason why Sasuke felt so different that time._

"What is it with you and laws?"

Karin closed the distance in one step and looked up at his face. "I'm passing a rule between us, Naruto, and I will not agree with your proposal if you don't vote yes."

"Okay."

"I'm calling this the Karin Law. Stay by my side forever."

Naruto blinked in indecision. Karin knew that it was a difficult rule to follow. But she wanted to hear him say yes even if it was a lie. _I know what your answer will be, dummy. I know that you don't lie._

Finally, Naruto smiled. "I vote yes."

Karin's eyes widened. She searched Naruto's face for any hint of a joke. Then she laughed. "I'm only kidding! Hahaha! You know, you're truly something. Who would agree to that? That's practically a marriage proposal! Hahaha!"

"I will be on your side forever, even though not physically always."

Her mirth gradually disappeared. She glanced up at Naruto. "Are you for real?"

"You're the one who is constantly kidding around."

Karin could only stare at him, and then, defeated, she shook her head and sighed. _I can't catch up to him. I can't read his thoughts._ "There's no turning back. You always need to obey that rule from now on. Can you do that?"

"I don't take back my words."

"One question. Why did you appear as Sasuke that time?"

"Ah, that. Sasuke came up with the idea of making our enemy think that we were who we appeared to be. It sounded innocent to me, then, but I found out that he was trying to protect us by transforming into our female teammate—remember the girl who healed you? Her name's Sakura. Our pursuers that time were targeting the weakest of the team. Sasuke was hoping to catch them off guard."

"I see. Sounds very much like Sasuke." Karin laughed, shaking her head. "You were cool that time, you know, very cool."

"It was one of my perfect transformations. I'm sorry if that misled you. Sasuke was a lot cooler."

Karin looked down and muttered, "He must have been."

After a long pause, Naruto said, raising his hand for a shake, "So, do we have a deal?"

Karin took his hand with a smile. "Yes."

Outside, Kakashi could only look up at the flickering fluorescent bulb. _I thought that Shikaku-san was scary because of his sharpness and intelligence. I did not expect to feel the same way towards Naruto._ _How can he do that? How is he able to make people have faith in him in such a short time?_

…

_Saiga Sharingan_.

The name floated in Madara's mind as he walked into his laboratory. The stack of cylindrical tubes greeted his entrance. Inside these cylinders were his clan's precious Sharingan, preserved and treasured by his caring hands. He stood in front of the metal shelf and focused his attention at two particular cylinders. The cylinders contained Itachi's eyes.

_I was planning to transplant these into Sasuke. I even went as far as manipulating his memory to stop him from thoughtless rampage like what he did when he tried to kill the Nine-tails. Itachi, your brother has surpassed us. He has acquired the blueprint of the Uchiha's ultimate weapon._

The Saiga Sharingan was reputed to be the root of the ritual of transplanting an Uchiha's Sharingan to another Uchiha to gain the Eternal Mangekyou. Madara did not have any written record about it, but he was familiar with the myth. The first person who had acquired the Saiga Sharingan was the First Son's daughter. As the myth goes, this daughter of his was a gentle and loving person. She had hated the war that was happening between the clan of the body and the clan of the eye. However he explained the situation, the First Son could not convince her to join him in his fight with the Second Son. She even made efforts to reconcile the two clans. Left with no other choice, the First Son denounced her daughter and deemed her an enemy of the clan of the eye. The clan of the body accepted her, and to show sincerity, they let her marry her cousin and childhood friend, the renowned Amakura Senju. Amakura Senju, as Madara knew him in his childhood, was a fictional hero, but now he was not sure about it. The First Son's daughter and Amakura departed to the Northeast to live a peaceful life. They had two children, and they lived contentedly for two years.

Meanwhile, the clan of the eye suffered consecutive losses against the clan of the body. The First Son suspected that his daughter had sold them to the enemy. He hunted her down. On a day where she had gone to gather some medicinal herbs, the First Son came and massacred her family. Drowned in so much hatred, the first daughter unknowingly activated the first Saiga Sharingan in the world. She began to be distrustful of people and vowed to kill everyone who had brought her so much pain. Not only did she blame her clan, but her husband's clan as well. Her very first victim was her own father, the First Son.

For years, the First Son's daughter did not do anything but to hunt down the two bloodlines. Because of this the Second Son and the First Son's second eldest agreed on a truce and cooperated to kill her. They did everything, but she was too strong for them. They could not even graze her skin in battle. The two clans eventually grew small in number as time went by. Face with the threat of extinction, they decided to go into hiding. There was a short reprieve.

The clan of the body concentrated on improving and creating new techniques, while the clan of the eye built up the effectiveness of their eyes. Months passed. The two clans gradually grew in strength. Confident now that they could take on the First Son's daughter, the two clans agreed to make their attack. Both sides were shocked at the tremendous growth each had gained. Black fires appeared, lightning struck the earth, water avalanched down from thin air, ridges grew up in clusters, whirlwinds descended from the clouds…Everyone was optimistic. They knew that they would win. But in the end they lost. The only good news was they had finally managed to inflict a wound on the monster woman.

Filled with hope, the two clans worked harder to improve. The clan of the body researched on regeneration and living cells. The clan of the eye experimented with their newly acquired Mangekyou. After years of patience, the clan of the body created the first generation Wood Element Release, while the clan of the eye discovered the Eternal Mangekyou…and both through bloody means. To create the mother cell for the Wood Element Release, a tree's core cell was forced inside the womb of a woman using a forbidden technique. After giving birth to the _wood zygote_ that was afterwards infused into the recipient shinobi, the mothers inevitably died. On the other hand, to acquire the Eternal Mangekyou, shinobis of the eye needed to kill their comrades. For some reason, they couldn't just trade eyes to have the Eternal Mangekyou. For the transplant to be effective, the donor should already be dead.

With these newly acquired weapons, the two clans battled with the First Son's daughter for the last time, and finally they won. The clan of the body and the clan of the eye were scared of each other's power after the fight; however, they had also seen how effective they were together. The two clans ultimately decided to make the truce permanent in the condition that the two frightening techniques would be sealed forever. No one knew that time that these techniques would revive in the future.

What Madara knew was this story was a myth, an intricately woven fiction that made connection of Hashirama's Wood Element Release and the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. He had never expected to see, right on to its last description, the should-be non-existent Saiga Sharingan.

Madara reached out and put a hand on the cylinders containing Itachi's eyes. "I momentarily thought that I was dreaming. But thanks to the Saiga's emergence, I don't have to soil your memory, anymore." He sighed. "He could be as strong now as the Sage of Six Paths, or the first owner of the Saiga Sharingan herself, Amaterasu."

Madara suddenly felt a presence behind him. As he was about to turn around to see who it was, the cylinders containing Itachi's eyes broke. Black fire engulfed the two Sharingan inside, and they vanished into eternity. Not even ash remained.

"Itachi!"

"You have no right to call unto his name with your filthy mouth," Sasuke said. His Saiga Sharingan gleamed under the dim light of the laboratory.

"Sasuke…"

"I understand that you made me forget about Itachi to prevent me from doing unnecessary and reckless actions. I do not resent your motive. I'm even grateful that you did that. I realized how weak I still am."

Madara composed himself. "With those eyes, you can do anything."

"I'm the only one who can tell that. I'm not yet satisfied with my strength. I would have died in my last fight if not for the First Son's intervention. I was mated by the Eight Tails. I knew that it was my loss."

"You killed him."

"It was not me. Even with everything the First Son had taught me about the Sharingan, I still couldn't win, decisively. The Eight Tails death was literally brought about by the First Son. He was the one who killed him, not me." Sasuke paused. "Right now, I cannot compare myself to the First Son or to the Eight Tails' Jinchuuriki. They were obviously stronger. I will not win against Naruto with my current strength."

Madara remained silent.

Sasuke looked into Madara's eyes, and the sight of the Saiga Sharingan sent chills down Madara's spine. "I'm leaving, and I will only come back the moment I can confidently say that I can do anything."

"Those words sound like a threat. Are you telling me to stay away from Uzumaki Naruto?"

Sasuke smiled, bitterly. "If he dies in your hands, he is not worthy to be my rival."

"I will not wait on you. Now that I have the Eight Tails, it's only a matter of time before I complete my Moon Eye's plan."

"I've already taken care of Orochimaru. You know what that means, right?"

"Ah, I see. So it's Konoha." Madara smirked. "I don't care about that village, anymore. The Nine Tails is in another place."

"Konoha is mine, don't ever forget that." Sasuke turned around and vanished.

Madara stared at the door of the laboratory for awhile, and then turned to glance at the shards of glass left behind by the broken cylinders.

…

Chiasa was still unconscious but was already out of danger, and that was a relief. The tears that streamed down Naruto's face and the wails of anguish from his throat were caused by the news of Killer Bee's death. He wanted to go and see him, but Tsunade had forbid it, explaining that no one must know that he was in the Fire Country. Karin, who had never left his side since she got out of prison, tried her best to comfort him by hugs and kind words, but she was unsuccessful. He apologized for not being able to "man-up" that Karin chided him for. She said that it was natural, and she liked it more if a man could cry for a friend, or just cry, period.

Naruto tried once more to convince Tsunade to let him go. Tsunade was stubborn. She said that a disguise would not work, for spies rarely trusted appearances. They identified their targets by chakra. It was all because of Kakashi's suggestion that she relented. Kakashi reminded Tsunade that ANBU masks and coveralls were not worn for decoration only. They also had the ability to conceal the chakra of the wearer. Kakashi said that Naruto and Karin could act as her ANBU bodyguards.

The ceremony was simple. The Tsuchikage, the Kazekage, the Mizukage, and the Hokage were there to see the Jinchuuriki off. Most of the faces in Kumogakure gleamed in tears. The Raikage unabashedly cried as Killer Bee's coffin was being lowered into the ground. Naruto trembled as the undertakers began shoveling earth onto the hole. Seeing this, Karin, who wore a porcelain cat mask, reached out and held his hand. Naruto squeezed her hand, as if asking her not to let go.

…

The breeze was cool against his ANBU mask. He was alone now, the people long gone to get back on their lives or to mourn in private. The only person he was aware of was Karin, who had chosen to watch him from a distance.

"So you're here, kid," a large voice said from his right. Naruto turned and saw the Raikage walking towards him with his substantial chest puffed out. "Always and forever stubborn."

"Good morning, Raikage-ojii-chan."

The Raikage smiled and put a hand on Naruto's head. "Yes, always call me like that, kid. It…sounds comfortable. Reminds me of Bee's rudeness."

Naruto weakly laughed. "Yeah. Uncle Bee is always rude."

"He was."

"He is, ojii-chan."

"Ma, ma, don't go looking away from reality, now." The Raikage exhaled. "Remember the time when you prostrated in front of me, asking forgiveness for the Uchiha brat?"

"Yes."

"If this had happened then, would you still have done that?"

It took a long time for Naruto to answer. "The only thing I'm sure of right now is your reason for refusing me."

"I see. Now that this has happened, what are you going to do with the Uchiha brat?"

"Ojii-chan, what do you think Uncle Bee would want me to do?" Naruto looked at the Raikage's face.

"If he were on your shoes, he would kill that brat. However, even though it's hard to swallow, since it's him in the grave, he would surely say, leave that kid alone."

Naruto sighed. "I'm angry. I can honestly say that. But not at Sasuke or anyone. I'm angry at myself because, right now, I feel like I can be happy about you killing Sasuke or Sasuke escaping you. I can justify both outcomes, easily, without thinking about it. Sasuke's death means justice for Uncle Bee. Sasuke's successful escape means safety for my friend. I cannot choose for both of them are very important to me." Tears flowed down from his eyes and dripped out of his chin. "It's so irritating."

The Raikage messed his hair. "That's a childish but reasonable argument. It shows a lot about what you really are. I'm happy that you aren't consoling me by agreeing to whatever I say. You're an honest kid."

"What should I do, ojii-chan? Am I betraying Uncle Bee if I say that I still have faith in Sasuke?"

"It's not a matter of what is right or what is wrong. It's a matter of what is true and what is not. Reality has deeply grown in me that all I can see now is the _human_ cycle of things. I already forgot how to perceive things like you do. And that is my truth. I'm an impatient, worldly old man. I decide things based on experience." He exhaled. "I cannot answer that question for you, but I'm already decided on what I will do. I will kill Sasuke."

Naruto flinched.

"I don't care if you or the entire world will hate me for it. If I find him, there's no other way around it. I'll end his life." He was silent for awhile. A dry leaf skidded over Bee's smooth tomb. "But if you beat me to it and bring him back prepared to face his crimes, does he still need to die?"

"Ojii-chan…"

"You need to be decisive about this particular thing. The world is not as patient as you. I'm of the world, and I like doing things fast. If you want to save him, don't doubt yourself and don't procrastinate. If you're willing to change your mind and side with me, then the better. All you need to do is to end this sentence and begin writing the next one." The Raikage slapped Naruto hard in the back, almost toppling him over. "So put your back into it, kid." He smiled and began to walk away. "You take care of the small fry. I'll be hunting down the bigger dog."

"Ojii-chan!"

The Raikage stopped and looked over his shoulder.

Naruto made a bow. "Thank you very much."

"Hmph." The Raikage resumed walking, leaving Naruto alone with Killer Bee.

_To be continued…_


	58. Chapter 58

Chapter 58: Broken Bond

He had been standing at the foot of the Jinchuuriki's grave for almost three hours now. Karin wanted to stand there by his side, but she had only known him for a day. She would not know what to say. Sighing, she decided to stay hidden behind the large tree overlooking the grave. Silence ruled the surrounding. There was wind, but it blew intermittently, like a mother looking up from her knitting to check on her sleeping baby. Robins and jays kept their silence, as if in respect for the departed. Cirrus clouds left the grave site a reverent space, giving a clear view of the blue sky. Everything was strange that day. Was this how nature say goodbye to a container of demons? Karin shook her head. She should not be thinking like that. Killer Bee, evidently loved by many, did not deserve to be insulted by a girl who had once worked for a _true_ demon.

Karin felt a chill run down her spine. It had come from behind. She spun and looked on with dread as a cloak of dark chakra enfolded Naruto. She saw how Naruto gripped his chest as if he was having a heart attack. Her legs started to move, but the terrifying feeling coming from Naruto froze her whole body. She felt like a claustrophobic who could only save a friend by lying inside a coffin and closing its lid. Her ability to sense chakra at a genius level was both a curse and a gift, and right now, she could only think of it as a curse.

Naruto lost the strength in his legs, and he coughed and retched. Even with this, Karin remained rooted in place. Tears of frustration began to roll down from her eyes. The darkness that had woken up inside Naruto prevented her from even calling out his name. She trembled from fear and helplessness. She urged her body to move, but her brain's defensive mechanism stopped her from moving.

_He's dying! Move! Move! My God, Naruto is dying!_

She heard Naruto gasp for breath, and this was all she needed. She looked away from Naruto, took a kunai from her belt bag, and thrust it into her thigh. Blood immediately gushed out. The pain overwhelmed the contraction of her muscles, and at the sudden release of tension and energy, she sprung and crashed into Naruto's hunched body. The ANBU mask flew off from Naruto's face. He rolled onto Bee's grave, his face deathly white. Karin was not thinking of anything. She had closed her senses and was only working through instinct. She was doing what she had done a thousand times in similar situations. Raising Naruto's head, she ripped her sleeve off and put her arm at Naruto's mouth. "Bite!" she said. Naruto grimaced, his brows making hideous furrows in his otherwise smooth forehead. "Bite, please!" Being in contact with the source of the darkness, Karin surmised that she would not last long. By now, even with her senses closed, she could feel the intrusion of the dark chakra into her body. She, herself, was having difficulty breathing. "Bite it," she repeated and repeated and repeated.

Finally, Naruto opened his mouth and bit her arm. She let out a moan that in another situation could have aroused even the impotent. Green chakra began flowing from the canine holes and into Naruto's mouth. Seconds passed before Naruto let go and left her arm glistening with his saliva. He was not yet a hundred percent okay, she could easily tell, but the light in his eyes had come back. She also felt the dark chakra waning in intensity until it finally disappeared. No one spoke for a while.

Naruto surprised Karin by suddenly grabbing her head and putting his forehead against hers. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you very much."

The gesture touched a chord in her heart. She was not sure if Naruto knew its meaning, but she knew it very well. Her father and brother would do it with her to show the sincerity in their spoken words. It was a traditional custom of her clan. Naruto was the first person since her family to do it with her. She grabbed his head and said, "Idiot. When doing this, you should look into my eyes." Naruto looked up and his blue eyes met her gaze. "Okay. Then speak."

"Thank you," Naruto said. "You saved me."

His first words of gratitude had sounded commonplace, like how peddlers say thank you for a purchase. But the second one almost made her cry. Even without the gesture, through his tone alone, she would have still felt that he was sincere. She had not heard such words of gratitude since her clan perished. Orochimaru had not cared. Sasuke had not bothered. She could not help smiling at the sense of regret Naruto was currently nailing her with. She thought, _if only I was not that foolish to stay with those bastards for too long, I might have found you sooner._

"You're wounded," Naruto said.

"It's okay. It's not that deep—" Her eyes widened when she felt his mouth close around her wound. He began sucking on it. It was the greatest level of intimacy she had got and allowed from another man. She felt a mix of emotions: embarrassment, pleasure, and arousal. Minutes ago, she could swear that she could have died from fear. Now she did not know. Naruto's hand under her thigh and his mouth over her wound tickled her womanhood. She bit her lip to contain her groans from coming out and looked up at the sky to abate the intensity of her dirty thoughts. She left him be for a few seconds more until the terrifying feeling of heat in her inner thighs jumped her into action. She held her wounded thigh away from his mouth before she embarrassed herself even more by having an orgasm in front of him. "I'm fine, now, Naruto," she said in a voice full of nervousness and awkward frustration.

He looked at her. "I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable. I'm just trying to make sure that I got all the infected blood out of you."

"You don't have to suck all my blood," she said, laughing. "A few spits of bad blood are already enough to lessen infection."

"I watched Sakura do this to Sasuke before, and she took a hell of a long time."

Karin laughed. Of course, Sakura, like any other maiden-in-love presented with the same opportunity, would enjoy it as much as she could. Same with men. Especially men. "Here. Bandage me up," she said, giving Naruto a roll of gauze.

Naruto worked on her wound, quietly, and finished up smiling like a child proud of his sand castle. "I guess it will hold."

Karin glanced at her thigh and nodded in approval. "Not bad."

"We have to go," Naruto said, putting his mask on. He stared at Bee's grave for a moment, and then he summoned Kinjo. The white wolf towered before them, his eyes full of respect for his master. It was the first time Karin had seen a summon show a lot of respect for his contractor. A lot, especially Orochimaru, had only received forced obedience and hatred from their summons. Naruto lifted Karin up onto Kinjo's back and sat behind her. "Let's go back," he said, reaching over to give Kinjo a scratch behind his ear. "Slowly, Kinjo. We're not in a hurry."

"As you wish, Naruto-sama."

Karin felt Naruto's arms against her ribs and his chest against her back. She began to turn to make a protest, but stopped herself midway, thinking about the danger of his proximity. If she moved carelessly, her lips might give her another reason to be embarrassed about. But all things considered, their closeness was abnormal, and if she did not know better, she'd think that he was making a pass at her.

"Naruto, I won't fall over. You don't need to do this," she said in a small voice. She remembered not having this tentativeness before. Even around Sasuke, she had not experienced shyness this strong. Naruto's kindness and warmth, together with his innocent love for physical contact, defenselessness, childishness, and open affection for everything, were chipping off scales of callousness in her heart. She was beginning to be conscious of herself.

"Please let me be close to you, even for a while," Naruto pleaded. "I need someone. I need you, Karin."

Karin softened after hearing his words. Mysteriously, her shyness and reservations fled from her mind. She leaned back, reassuringly resting her head below his chin. She relaxed and put her weight on him. "Like this?"

Naruto lowered his head and whispered. "Thank you."

Karin, removed of all trepidations now, giggled. "I think you need a girlfriend to do this for you. And more."

"I'm sorry if I'm asking for too much."

Karin swore to herself. She had struck the wrong note. Naruto was obviously not up for jokes. She thought of something else. "How did you learn that gesture? It was a traditional custom in my village."

"I asked about you before I went to see you. It has the largest impact on me."

"It's a nice feeling having someone appreciate your ancestry."

"It's the least I could do as a friend."

Karin did not reply. She shifted and inched closer to him. His firm chest and flat stomach gave her the feeling of reassurance she had long forgotten about. She could count this day as one of her happiest, despite what had happened earlier. She liked his masculine smell and wished that he liked her smell, too.

"I apologize for scaring you earlier," Naruto said. "It has been happening ever since I attained Yuujo."

She knew about Yuujo. It was the last stage of taming a Tailed Beast. "What do you mean?"

Naruto explained how he had released Yumiko, how the Hakke Fuin left him to fend for himself, and how the pure darkness of the Kyubi had tried every chance it had to take over him. "Every time I feel a strong negative emotion like anger and sorrow, the Kyubi pounces on me. If you were not there earlier, it would have succeeded in eating me."

_It must be about Sasuke_, Karin thought. _Everything was going fine until that very moment. He must have thought about Sasuke._

And as if he could read her mind, Naruto said, "What do you think I should do, Karin? About Sasuke, I mean."

She did not have to think this over. "I want him dead. You should kill him, Naruto." She expected for him to stiffen or his aura to ripple, but he remained calm.

"I understand."

Instead of apologizing, she snapped. "Sasuke is crazy. He doesn't care anymore. He is doing this because he enjoys doing it. I saw how he laughed while he stabbed me." She shivered. "He's evil. As dark as what is inside you. If you don't kill him, somebody will. It would be an act of kindness on your part if you did it. And if he stays alive, many people will be in danger."

Naruto put his hands on her arms, pulled it across her belly, and hugged her. He put his masked face against the side of her head. "I'm sorry I made you remember."

"I would kill him myself if I were as strong as you," Karin whispered furiously.

"Yes. I'm sorry."

Karin let out a harsh sigh, closed her eyes, and put her head against his neck. The discomfiture from the level of intimacy they were sharing was buried beneath the seriousness of their topic. "Promise me that you will stop him, Naruto. Promise me."

But Naruto did not answer. He just wrapped his arms tighter around her.

…

Sasuke reached the Takimino Village late in the afternoon. As it had been, the small village of rice paddies lay peacefully under the bright afternoon sun. He could see farmers sitting under the shade of trees, fanning their sunburned faces with their straw hats. Others were busy tilling the ground with their adzes. The wind smelled of rice and mud, smoke from houses smelled of rice cakes, the earth smelled of sweat and normalcy—ambience of a village indifferent to the chaos happening on other parts of the Fire Country. He had kept the children he rescued from Orochimaru's laboratories here. If he remembered correctly, he had spared twenty-two test subjects from death. He clenched his teeth. He shouldn't have done that. It was a mistake. Now Konoha was more prepared for his attack. Konoha might even use those children's _gifts _to its advantage. Despite remembering everything, he still could not pinpoint which part of his brain had given him the stupidity to conceive and push through with that action. He could not admit that he was still capable of compassion and kindness, feelings an avenger should not have. He needed to correct his mistake and send a message to the world that he was serious with his goal. He wanted everyone to know, especially Naruto. Especially _that _Naruto.

A farmer recognized him. The old man stood up and greeted him with a broad smile. "Oh, Uchiha-san! Good afternoon to you! I've never seen you in ages!" Sasuke nodded. The farmer went beside him. "Why did you take so long to visit?"

Sasuke ignored the old man. "Did the children cross the border okay?"

"Ah, yes, yes! Come, Uchiha-san! My wife is cooking some rice cakes. Please join us for an afternoon snack."

"Old man, how was I when you first met me?" Sasuke asked.

The old man looked at him, curiously. "What do you mean?"

"How did you think of me?"

The old man frowned, confused at the strange question. "Well, mysterious, I think. You never talked much, and once you were sure that the children were in good hands, you left. Oh, by the way, thank you for that large sum of money. It helped this small village a lot." From the second nearest hut, an old woman with brown skin called out for the old farmer. "Come, Uchiha-san. My daughter admires you very much. She and my wife would be honored to have you."

Sasuke followed the old man up the trail, but in a deliberately slow pace. He was calculating the possibilities. The village was situated on top of a mountain. No escape route was available other than the trail they were on. Fifty families lived in the village in fifty huts. Only a third was men. The rest comprised of children, women, and the aged. "Five minutes," he murmured. "It will only take five minutes."

The old man looked over his shoulder. "Uchiha-san? Are you—" All the words he was about to say were lost when Sasuke pulled Kusanagi out its sheath. The head of the old man fell down to the ground. Blood surged up from the severed carotid of the farmer. Crimson rain poured over the dry earth.

Then the shrieks came.

…

Early that morning, Naruto went to Lake Azuma after his routine exercise. The lake boasted a vast body of stagnant water which gleamed deep green. The smell of moss in the air was refreshing. Trees stood around, surrounding the body of water: young ones of less and old ones of more than a hundred years. The lake moved ever so slightly, like a shy girl who was forever conscious of her actions. When the wind kissed its surface, soft ripples raced over to the shore—little children chasing each other, breaking off into a crystalline laughter of a splash upon reaching land. Even the most psychologically insecure would find security in this beautiful place, a fitting place to rest tired muscles and turbulent blood circulation.

Naruto sighed and took off his clothes, leaving only his boxers on. The sun had yet to come. Only the bright indigo of the sky conveyed its promise to rise. _A short swim to top it off while the sun is still out. Yosh! Here we go!_ He dived into the lake.

Several minutes passed before Naruto had enough of the water. He waded out of it, fully drenched and dripping. The sun had already poked its head out of the mountains and was sending its bright rays at the lake, making the green water sparkle like emerald—delicious stuff for the eyes. And someone was enjoying _both._

"God, you're so sexy," a girl's voice said.

Naruto looked up and saw Karin walking out from behind a tree. Her red hair was gathered in a ponytail, accentuating her long neck and soft chin.

Naruto covered his crotch with his jacket. "What are you doing here?"

"Watching."

"What? F-for how long?"

Karin stiffened. "What kind of tone is that? I just got here!"

Naruto stared at her for a long time.

Karin, blushing, accepted the challenge and stared back. "What?"

"H-how did you find me?"

Karin exhaled. "Have you already forgotten why you recruited me? And why did you leave without telling me? I was worried sick when I didn't find you in your room. Can you be more considerate? What was that promise for if you will just ignore it like this?"

"I have to keep fit. Besides, I told one of Grandma's maids that I'd be going out and where I was headed—wait a minute…"

Karin, blushing deeper, looked away.

"So you were watching!"

"It's not my fault! You took off your clothes on your own! I just happened to arrive on you n-n-n-n-naked like that!"

"And you waited for me to come out of the water to take advantage of my inevitable transparency!"

"It's not my fault that you are wearing cotton underpants, you idiot!"

Naruto's eyes widened. "You saw?"

Karin's face was about to explode from redness. "It's not my fault! It's not my fault! It's not my fault!"

"So you saw…" Naruto dropped his jacket and approached Karin. He grabbed her shoulders. "Forget what you saw, okay? Don't tell anyone."

Karin gaped at that. "Why would I? I'm not the kind of bimbo who will brag about how big you are!"

Birds chirped from the trees. Small waves made soft splashes. The wind rustled the leaves. Everyone was saying the same thing.

Karin brushed Naruto's hands away from her shoulders and yelled, "Stop pushing me out of character, you idiot!" before punching him in the face.

…

Naruto had cottons inside his nostrils. He was now only half-naked after having his pants on. He and Karin were sitting side by side under the sun. "I'm sorry," he said.

"Me, too," Karin said. "I…" _Why am I so conscious about this? This is not like me. I could flirt with Sasuke so easily, but why can't I do it with this guy? _She inhaled. _Relax, relax, relax! It's not me. It's not me, it's him! It's his fault for being…what? Cute?_ She grabbed her head. _What is happening to me?_

"Are you all right? Got a headache?"

"I'm fine!" Karin barked.

Naruto cringed. "I'm not doing anything. I'm not even touching you. What's wrong?" He looked down at his naked torso. "Oh, sorry." He started to put on his jacket over his still wet body.

"Don't do that. You'll catch a cold." She reached out and peeled her black stockings off her legs. Now what had been hidden beneath for a long time were revealed. They were nicely-shaped, long, and glowing for their smoothness. She had a perfect pair of legs. "This will make us even."

Horrified, Naruto blurted out, "I'm not asking for that!"

"You don't like them, do you? My legs."

"It's not like that!"

Karin glanced at Naruto and saw that he was blushing. _Yes! My confidence is coming back! So, you're a leg man, huh._ "You can touch them if you like."

Naruto blushed even deeper. "No. It's dangerous."

"What are you talking about? Here." She grabbed his wrist and put his hand on her thigh. "Soft, isn't it?" A couple of seconds passed. Blood rose up from their necks to their heads. Karin let go of his wrist while Naruto pulled his hand away, both as quick as if they had touched ember. An awkward silence came between them.

"Y-you got beautiful legs," Naruto muttered.

"Not like my arms, they are clean of teeth marks. If ever the chance came, you would be the first person that I will allow to bite on my legs."

Naruto smiled. "Now that, I can understand, is a compliment." He stood up. "Come on. If we stayed here longer, we might sink even deeper in this silliness."

"Yeah. I'm suddenly reminded that I haven't had breakfast, yet."

He looked down to inspect her right thigh. "The wound's healed. You're a fast healer. Not even a scratch."

"Nature is being unfair if she's given me the ability to heal while leaving me off with nothing. Besides, that wound was fairly small."

"Yeah. That's true." Naruto smiled.

Karin liked seeing that smile of his. She grabbed his hand and led the way.

"Wait! At least let me get dressed first!"

Smiling, Karin said, "Look down, idiot. I haven't worn my stockings, yet. This is my service. Give me something to look over my shoulder for." She giggled. "Besides, we are not using the public roads. This minute pleasure is just between you and me."

"You really do know that you are beautiful, don't you?"

"Yes. I like showing off, but only to people I like."

"Well, I like you, too."

Karin suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

Karin smiled to herself. _He doesn't mean it. Not in that way, anyhow._ "Nothing. Let's get something good to eat."

…

Shizune had her piglet Tonton in her arms as she walked in the corridor to Tsunade's office. She was deep in thought. The pink piglet raised its head and snorted, asking in its own way what was wrong. Shizune noticed the concern in the piglet's eyes.

She forced a smile. "Don't worry. I'm okay."

The piglet grunted.

Glancing ahead, Shizune saw Naruto and Karin walking towards her. Their faces showed contentment and defenselessness. She stopped and eyed them both. _How did they become that close? How long has it been again? Two days?_

Naruto noticed her. "Shizune-san! Good morning!"

Shizune still had her scrutinizing eyes on him.

"Shizune-san?"

"What is going on?" Shizune asked.

"Huh?"

Shizune shifted her focus on Karin's face, then on her hand which was lightly holding Naruto's arm. Karin caught herself and let go. "G-good morning."

"Good morning your ass," Shizune muttered.

Karin's face darkened. "What's wrong with you?"

Shizune gave a fake smile. "Oh, did you hear? Naruto-chan, did you hear something?"

Naruto said, "I'm not sure."

"She said—" Karin was saying, but Shizune cut her off.

"Naruto-chan, have you had your breakfast, yet? I'll cook you something."

"Hey, I was talking to you!" Karin said.

Hearing Karin raise her voice, Naruto stepped in between them. "Wait, wait! What's this all about? Karin, stop it."

"She said something rude. I heard it." She glared at Shizune. "Old hag."

Shizune was dumbfounded. "What?"

"You were asking for it. I was being polite to you. Is this about me being out of prison despite being a criminal?"

Naruto made his move. He pulled Shizune aside. "Shizune-san, I know that you don't like the situation, but can you give her a chance? She's not what you think she is."

Shizune snorted. She looked at Naruto, and then shook her head. "So it was all a fantasy. All right. Karin-san, I'm sorry. Excuse me, both of you." Piglet Tonton grunted at Naruto. "Idiot," Shizune mumbled before stepping aside and walking away.

Naruto looked at Karin who was looking dejectedly at the floor. "Sorry about that. She'll get by. She's just strict about rules."

Karin gave him a weak smile. "It's not that. I'm also a woman so I know where she's coming from. I was just a little shocked, that's all. Come on. Let's not waste a good day by thinking too much about what happened."

Naruto sighed. "I'm sorry," he said. "She's used to calling me by my first name. I wonder why she suddenly included honorifics. She must not have gotten enough sleep last night."

"Yeah." And when he got a step ahead of her, she murmured, "Will it be this hard being near you?"

"Are you saying something?"

Karin laughed. "We have a nice weather today, don't you think?"

"Ummm, could it be the weather, then?"

"Baka, baka, baka!" she said while playfully pinching his cheek.

…

Inside Tsunade's office, Shizune was watching the blue, almost cloudless sky at the window. Tonton tried to wriggle out of her grasp, but she held the piglet in. Tonton surrendered in the end, sighing like a human being.

"Still can't get over it?" Tsunade asked. She talked while signing documents at her desk. She was not looking anywhere but on her papers. "My decision is final. I can't allow anymore medical-nins to leave. Orochimaru might attack any time."

"That girl called me old hag."

Tsunade looked up. "You don't look old to me. Dull, maybe, but you still have your youth."

"Tsunade-sama, dull hurts more." Shizune paused for awhile. "He said he had a crush on me. That jerk."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. Then she grinned. "So that is what it's all about." Shizune turned a little from her. "I thought you had already let it go."

"I couldn't," Shizune simply said.

Tsunade was smiling at her like a mother. "Don't worry. You still have a chance."

"I will have a chance when you allow me to go with him."

"I told you my decision was final. My point is, as long as that blockhead remains a blockhead, you will remain on equal footing as everyone."

"But I want to be with him!" Shizune said, facing Tsunade now. Tonton squeaked as the force in Shizune's arm increased. "What can I do if I stay here? That glasses girl managed to get closer to him within a couple of days."

"You know his past, Shizune. He's very careful about dealing with his friends. Tell me. Has he ever favored a particular person before? You might be thinking that he has been doing that with Sasuke, but I'm definite that he'll go crazy choosing between Sasuke and Chouji if Chouji is having the same problems as well. In his eyes, no one is above no one_._ Everyone occupies the same space in his heart."

Shizune understood, but refused to accept it. "It's your fault. If you had never sent me for that mission, it wouldn't have developed this far."

Tsunade laughed. "I'm the scapegoat this time, huh. What happened to the Shizune I know who would keep nagging about the most logical decision, the most rational move, the most probable explanation, and the most reasonable choice?" She paused. "I thought you were an advocate of thinking with the head."

Shizune remained quiet. Now she felt the embarrassment the aftermath of denying what she could not understand brought. She had refused to listen to her heart before. She had even told Tsunade that she was acting immature by trusting her heart so much. _Never conclude things about life and human nature. You will regret it sooner or later_. She let out her discontent with a long sigh.

Tsunade lost her interest and returned her focus on her papers. "Painful, no? If you can't bear that small pain, how can you say that you deserve him better than anyone? That pain won't even compare to a pinch of what he had to endure in the past." She let the silence to hover for a few seconds, her hand working over the documents. "Don't take him lightly. He's the type of guy that will not swoon over looks, housewife skills, or sex appeal. Try to kiss him, and you'll know. Wait, haven't you kissed already? You even described it so vividly to me."

Shizune cleared her throat. Blushing furiously, she said, "All right. I think I'm calm now. Th—"

"If you want to thank me, give me an extension on my gambling time."

"Thank you. That's all you will get." Shizune walked to the door. Before she got out, she smiled at Tsunade. "I really mean it. Thanks." And she left.

…

Shizune searched for Naruto and Karin. She went to the cafeteria, to the dojo, to the library, and finally to Naruto's room, but she did not find them. Sighing, she decided to postpone her plan. She was regretting her immature behavior earlier, and she wanted to apologize for that.

When she went down to the yard, she noticed two figures huddled under a tree. She could see Karin's ponytail hanging loosely from one shoulder. Feeling relieved, she went to them. Naruto was sleeping, his head resting on Karin's shoulder. She stiffened upon seeing the scene, but she controlled herself. Karin had already put her guard up.

"What now?" Karin said.

Shizune could not speak. Her blood was beginning to boil. Piglet Tonton started to wriggle, forcefully, and managed to get out of Shizune's death grip. It hid behind the tree. Shizune kept her silence for a few seconds more, and then she looked up, closed her eyes, exhaled, and smiled at Karin. She sat on her legs.

"Anything between you two even though it has only been two days?" It was hard for her to ask this, and she had to clench her jaws.

"What are you talking about?" Karin said.

Shizune jerked her chin at Naruto. "That."

Karin seemed not to understand what she was talking about. She briefly glanced at Naruto. "What about it?"

"Geez! Do I have to spell it out for you?"

Karin stared at her, and then she laughed. Naruto moaned in his sleep. Karin immediately stopped laughing, but she couldn't stop some of her smirks from getting out. She carefully fixed Naruto's head on her shoulder. Shizune looked away, seething.

"You like this guy, huh, so you're jealous," Karin said.

"I'm not jealous!" Naruto frowned, so she lowered her voice. "I'm not jealous, okay."

"So your hostility towards me has no reason? I know you are the same as everyone in Konoha. My present appointment and acquittal don't mean a thing to you. You have already accepted me as one of Konoha, right?"

Shizune remained quiet.

Karin went on. "Your sudden outburst this morning put Naruto in a difficult position—"

"First name basis," Shizune hissed.

"It was hard to cover for you. It's just fortunate that he's naïve about these things. He treats every little gesture as friendly. _Every gesture._"

"Heh, don't talk as if you know him enough. He is not that dumb. He values a kiss as something to be given only to the one you love. That _is_ an important gesture."

"Oh. He told you an embarrassing thing like that? That's surprising." Karin paused. When Shizune did not reply, she said, "So what are you doing here?"

Shizune thought for awhile. Gathering herself up, she said, "I want to apologize for my rudeness this morning."

"I understand. I forgive you. It's not that big of a deal, anyway."

Piglet Tonton went out of hiding and lay beside Shizune. A long silence came between them.

"Yes, I was jealous," Shizune said. "And I don't simply like him. I love him."

Karin blinked, an expression of admiration spreading on her face. "T-that's brave of you, telling that to a stranger like me."

"I'm just expressing it with words. You cannot hide it from me. You understood my feelings the moment you saw me. You, too. I know that you are attracted to him."

Karin laughed, nervously. "I hate situations like this."

"I just can't believe it. It only took two days."

"He got _electrifying_ chakra, for one. He's cute, well-built. He's honest. He cares for me. He trusts me." She paused, searching for words. She turned her head to look at Naruto. "And he relies on me. I'm _there_ in his life. For him, I'm not just a tool."

"I understand that very well. He's a natural lady's man. Thank goodness, he's unaware of it."

Karin giggled, and Shizune couldn't help responding to it. She giggled as well.

Karin said, "Does he have an inferiority complex?"

"Does he give you that feeling?"

"Somewhat."

"Didn't he tell you about his past?"

"I haven't asked him, yet."

Shizune looked at Naruto. "He was hated in the past. He had endured insults, hostility, and alienation from the villagers. Everyone hated him because he was a Jinchuuriki, though it was not his fault."

"I see."

"He's afraid of prejudice. He's afraid of misinterpretation. He doesn't want to lose anyone."

"Oh." Karin's voice was weak.

"Those are the reasons he always assumes the worst when dealing with people," Shizune said in a dreamy voice. "He doesn't like anyone getting angry at him."

"Who would?"

Shizune smiled, knowingly. "I would, and I think you already have."

"Huh?"

"He's so dense it's irritating. Get me?"

"Ah, that. Yes. But it's playful anger. I will never get genuinely angry at him, even if I really try."

"Of course." Shizune looked at Karin. "I really can't believe it. It took _him _only two days. I thought that former underlings of Orochimaru were time-hardened. I had the impression that all of you were evil."

"We are still human."

Shizune noticed that the subject was making Karin uneasy. "Guess that's all. I need to get back to work."

"Don't bother."

"Huh?"

"Naruto told me that it's your off."

Shizune laughed to hide her embarrassment. "See? He's irritating."

"I need to purchase some stuff and thank the Hokage for the allowance she gave me. But…" Karin pointed at Naruto. "He's tired. I don't want to wake him." Slowly, Karin stood up, supporting Naruto's head with her hands. "Could you take my place?"

Shizune blushed. "What?"

"He might wake up! Come on!"

"O-okay! Don't rush me!"

Both of them talked in harsh whispers.

Shizune got beside Naruto. She thought that Karin would put Naruto's head on her shoulder, but she lowered him down on her lap. Shizune's eyes widened in disbelief. "What are you doing?"

Karin was swinging her arm around. "For blood circulation."

"No! This!"

"Shush. Don't you like it?"

Shizune turned red.

Karin said, "We will be leaving soon. It will be a long time before you see him again."

"But—"

"I'll be going now. Don't fidget too much. You'll wake him up."

"Huh?" She glanced at Naruto. He was sound asleep. Looking up at Karin, she said, "I don't consider this a debt of gratitude, okay? Never think of bringing this up in the future."

Karin chuckled. "I won't. So, see you later." She turned and left.

Shizune watched Naruto's sleeping face. It took her quite a long time before she could take her eyes away. Right now, she was the happiest woman in the world. Naruto stirred a little, reached out, and put a hand on her knee. Her heart beat furiously in her chest, leaving her shoulders weak and her face all red. He briefly rubbed his face against her thigh—making her gasp—before settling back to sleep.

"You pervert!" she murmured.

Piglet Tonton went under Naruto's outstretched arm and closed its eyes. Shizune sighed, shaking her head. She placed a hand on his shoulder, and sighed again.

…

Tsunade was still busy signing papers inside her office. Reports did not look good. Merchants were fleeing one by one because of Orochimaru's threat. Most of the papers contained requests for departure. She sighed. She could not do anything about it. Protocol and common sense dictated that the lives of common folks preceded economic interest in every situation.

There were knocks from the door. She let it hang for a moment before she said, "Come in."

A red-head came in—head tilted forward, eyes looking at the floor. It was Karin. Tsunade looked up for a second, and then returned to her work.

"What is it?" Tsunade asked.

"W-well…ummm…Master Hokage, I-I just want to thank you for the allowance."

Tsunade looked up from her papers. Karin was fidgeting with her fingers, still looking down.

"A-and also…I want to...I want to thank you for giving me this…this opportunity."

Karin was choosing her words carefully. Tsunade watched her with interest now. She did not expect such a meek attitude from Orochimaru's former assistant. "I was opposed to the idea."

Karin winced. "Y-yes, Master Hokage. I knew you were. But even so, I want to express my gratitude."

"You still got a long way to go, child. You _were_ an enemy, after all."

"Yes."

"But…" Tsunade pulled out a drawer and grabbed something from it. She stood up and went to Karin. Karin shrunk from her, almost taking a step back, like a scared puppy. Tsunade reached out and took Karin's hand. She put a Konoha forehead protector in her palm. "I have been watching you, and in Konoha, I don't miss a _thing_. Shikaku was right. You'd be a waste inside a prison."

Karin's hand began to tremble. "T-thank…" She garbled as if she had food in her mouth. Drops of tears splattered over the metal plate with the Leaf Emblem.

Tsunade felt awkward. She was surprised that things were turning out differently from what she supposed them to be. She thought that Karin would not break like what she was doing now. Tsunade regretted her impulsiveness—_I should've given it at a later date, some time when she is not alone_. She was not sure what to do next.

"For formality's sake," Tsunade said. "I can't send you out without an affiliation. Other countries might suspect us of hiring missing-nins."

"Thank you," Karin said. She was crying. It was obvious. And for some reason, she couldn't do anything else.

Tsunade wanted the awkward situation to end. _Like a normal girl, as Shikaku said._ _She's just really a normal girl._ Out of options, she decided to act as family. She put a hand on Karin's head.

"Welcome to our village," Tsunade said. She knew what was coming next. Girls who cry from so much joy are weak against a warm touch.

Karin put her arms around Tsunade's waist and said between sobs, "Thank you…for giving me…a new life."

…

Naruto was embarrassed to find himself on Shizune's lap. He went off like a firecracker, bolting up and then falling on his butt. Shizune liked his reaction. When both their emotions settled, Shizune invited Naruto for a short snack. Shizune told Naruto on the way that Karin had gone to see Tsunade. After they had eaten, Naruto told Shizune that he wanted to see Chiasa.

Chiasa was unconscious most of the time, but her vitals were stable. Shizune explained to him that Chiasa had woken up once and might wake up any time, that it could be his lucky day and chanced on her waking up. "You should not worry yourself," she said. "She's in good hands. Konoha is the best in medical techniques." Shizune politely excused herself to let Naruto and Chiasa alone.

It might have been the wind or his presence, but as he was closing the door behind him, Chiasa stirred. Naruto froze, not really knowing how he should react to it. Chiasa finally opened her eyes and searched the room. She locked gazes with Naruto, a smile slowly showing on her cracked lips.

"Hi," she croaked.

"Hello, Chiasa," Naruto said as he softly closed the door behind him. "I guess it's my lucky day." He pulled a chair beside her bed and sat down. "How are you feeling?"

"I knew it was you," she said, smiling. "Could you please help me sit?"

Naruto went over and supported her back while he gathered the pillows behind her. She settled in and said thank you.

"Does your wound still hurt?" he asked.

"It was pretty deep, through and through. It hurts, but it's completely manageable."

"I'm sorry. If I was just a second sooner…"

Chiasa put her hand on his. "Don't blame yourself. You got Kalua to change her ways within minutes, Naruto. I can't ask for more. This wound is small compared to what you did for us."

"But—"

"If you don't stop it, you may not like what I'll do to you."

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Chiasa stopped him with a kiss. His eyes widened. Putting his hands on her shoulders, he gently pushed her away.

Chiasa smiled. "Another word of guilt and I'll take it to another level, even if my wound opens up."

Naruto panicked. "All right. I got it, I got it."

"Sometimes stubbornness doesn't do the trick, Naruto. I understand why it happened. I know how difficult it is to have an actual demon inside you who you keep locked up with your will alone. And I'm speaking from experience." She went silent for a few seconds. "I'm starting to like this place. Everyone is kind and accommodating."

"Since you've taken oath to serve me for life, you're affiliated to Konoha now."

"I guess I am." She looked at herself and at the IV tube in her hand. "If I go with you, I'll just be a burden."

"And I won't allow it. You will stay here and recover."

"I knew you'd say that."

"I already talked to Grandma Hokage about you. She'll be thrilled to know that you are an Uchiha."

"You haven't told her, yet?"

Naruto rubbed his hands together. "I'm not that good at these things so I went with my instinct. I was afraid that if I told her, people would start bothering you. The remaining Uchiha of the Fire Country, Uchiha Sasuke, is a wanted criminal. I'm planning to tell grandma about you after you wake up. She will know what to do."

"Politically speaking, that was a good move."

"I'll take her here as soon as I've told her that you are already up and sober."

"That would be great. I'd like to meet with the Hokage."

"Just so you know, she's Hashirama-sensei's grandchild."

"Really? Wow. Then I'm more than excited to see her."

Naruto finished his visit with trivial topics and decided to go. He helped Chiasa lay down in her bed and started to leave. Chiasa held his hand, rubbing a thumb on his skin and deciding what to say. Then she looked up and met his inquiring gaze.

"Remember what you told me when we did it?" she asked. "About me being your third wife?"

"I told you something like that?"

Chiasa closed her eyes and let his hand go. She forced a smile. "You did not. I'm just saying things. Thank you for visiting me."

Naruto turned to face her, grabbing her hand. "Look, Chiasa, I don't remember that night perfectly, but I do remember that night and our…our... And I…" He blushed furiously. "I enjoyed my first time with you. I wanted you that night, that's the truth. I can't remember everything I said, but I won't ever deny that you made me…you made me…" He was blushing so much he looked like he was about to burst. "You made me happy that night."

Chiasa looked like she was about to cry. She hastily looked away, saying, "All right! I get it. You can leave now!"

"Hey, Chiasa, are you mad?" he said in a panic. "I swear I'll try my best to remember everything."

"You don't have to. What you said is enough."

"Please tell me you're not mad."

She giggled. "I'm not. I hope you bring your grandma here soon."

"I'll do that. What do you want me to bring for you?"

"Apples. I like apples, Naruto."

"Okay. I'll bring you apples, then. See you." Naruto fixed her blanket and went out silently.

When he was gone, Chiasa murmured, "That guy knows how to make a woman cry," as tears began to flow out her eyes.

…

The next morning, as Konoha was stirring into wakefulness and fog was still around to tell how early it was, a small intruder alerted the guards.

"Someone breached the barrier, heading fast towards the village," the monitor said. "Alert the gate guards. Might be a suicide bomber."

"Don't joke around! The intruder has a small presence. A child by size," the woman beside him said.

"I'm just trying to see your smile, Aoba. For goodness sakes, don't pout too much."

"I'm taken."

The monitor sipped some coffee. "He helped you only once, damn that brat. And you're old enough to be his mother."

"Well, rumors say that—the intruder's in!" She thumbed her transmitter. "Situation, G-1."

"A small child," the voice over the transmitter said. Then the man paused for a moment.

"G-1, description," Aoba said.

The transmitter crackled. "A little girl, under ten. Bloody dress. She's in shock. She's saying over and over the name Uchiha Sasuke."

…

Tsunade and Kakashi ran over to the yard when the ANBU arrived with the child. The little girl clung around the ANBU's leg, as if he was the last thing on earth that would keep her alive.

"Brief me," Tsunade prompted.

"She clammed up, Ma'am. All I got from her are the name of her town and the name of the perpetrator. The rest is gibberish."

"Who did it?"

"Uchiha Sasuke," the ANBU whispered.

The girl went hysterical after hearing the name. Tsunade immediately wrapped her with her arms.

"It's okay, it's okay," Tsunade crooned. "I got you. It's all right now. Shush. It's okay now, baby."

The girl gratefully accepted the embrace. She cried her lungs out in Tsunade's bosom.

"What happened?" a male voice said.

Tsunade looked up and saw Naruto and Karin coming over. "Naruto…" It was almost inaudible, but the girl caught it. The girl spun around and glared at Naruto.

"What's going on?"

"Someone attacked her village, Naruto," Kakashi offered. "I think she's the only survivor."

…

Naruto stifled the gasp in his throat. What Kakashi said brought back a dark memory. He thought about Sasuke. His heart began to pound in his chest. He looked down and the girl was still glowering at him.

"You're Uzumaki Naruto?" the girl said.

Naruto knelt down. "I am—"

The girl's eye widened in hatred. She slapped Naruto hard in the face. Everyone was stunned and couldn't move.

"You're the reason my parents are dead! Sasuke said that it's because of you! He wouldn't have come to my village if it wasn't for you! He said that it was all your fault! He said that you were stronger than him ten folds! He said that you could have killed him many times before, but you never did! You never did! He said that you are a coward, that you can't accept what is real, that you don't listen to anyone! He said that you are not worth a single thing, that you are trash! He said that the people around you have been telling you all of these, but you kept ignoring them! It's all your fault! My mother and father are dead because you are stupid and weak!"

The people around were not moving, but their faces told of their agreement to what the child was saying.

"He will not stop," the girl said. "Until you kill him, he will not stop killing other people. If you really are our hero, kill him."

…

Karin saw it. Tsunade, Kakashi, and the ANBU saw it as well. A change had occurred inside Naruto. They just couldn't pinpoint what exactly, but they _saw_ it. And when he stood up, putting his hand on the little girl's head, he said a single line that convinced them that they were not just seeing things. Naruto said, "I will kill the demon."

…

"Good answer," a chillingly cold voice said. They all turned in its direction and paled. Sasuke was standing on the rooftop of Konoha's Administration Building. "Don't even try lifting the wrong finger. I'm holding civilians as hostages. With my will alone, I can kill them all." His Saiga Sharingan gleamed evilly under the rising sun. Those malicious eyes did not leave Naruto. "I'm here to know how you will react."

"Are you happy, now?" Naruto said, sarcastically. "I admit that I've been blind. Thank _you_ for opening my eyes."

Sasuke laughed. "I thought you did not know how to be angry."

Naruto smiled. "I'm not angry. I pity you."

"Really? Well, I'm the same as you. You kept on living in a dream world. How pathetic can a human be?"

"As pathetic as you are."

"Music to my ears," Sasuke said. He became dead serious. "Orochimaru is already dead. No one will be bothering Konoha until I come back. Prepare yourselves. I will erase Konoha from history." He glared at Naruto. "I've been waiting for this day, the day you finally come to your senses."

No one blinked as Naruto and Sasuke commenced their stare-off. Tsunade, Kakashi, Karin, the small child, and the ANBU glared at Sasuke. They wanted to kill him then and there.

Finally, as if having the same minds, Naruto and Sasuke said, "Our bond is severed."

Sasuke smiled, and it looked genuine enough to Naruto that a featherweight of hope threatened to put a crack on his determination. But it left him after a millisecond of its conception. Saving the _demon_ was not an option anymore.

"I'll destroy Konoha," Sasuke said, "and rebuild it from ashes."

"I will stop you," Naruto said. "Let us meet again in the other life."

…

Before they helplessly watched Sasuke vanish from their sight, he provided the direction in which Orochimaru's hideout was located. To check for themselves the truth behind his words, he said. He also told them the addresses of the citizen he had put a curse on. Tsunade immediately called for a large medical team to check on these people. ANBU were sent out to search the village for possible field manipulations and enemies Sasuke had brought with him and were only lying for an ambush. The search produced negative results. Sasuke had been alone. Security heads theorized that Sasuke must have used a technique similar to Madara's, wherein dimensional portals were utilized, or Naruto's, wherein beast portals were used. Tsunade dumped this into the trashcan. She said to focus more on the raid that they would be doing on Orochimaru's hideout. She sent courier hawks to the hidden villages in alliance with Konoha, telling them about Sasuke's little visit and the attack they were preparing to make.

"What did you find out?" Tsunade asked the head of the medical-nin team she had sent.

"They were surprised, of course, but Uchiha was telling the truth. There were cursed marks on their backs. All confirmed that they saw him walking by early this morning. I'm just at a loss about how he did it. I mean, going in unnoticed?"

"It's not your job to find that out. How are they?"

"We've cleaned them up. There are not in danger anymore." The woman considered for a while. "I'm told that he talked with Uzumaki-san. How is he taking it?"

Tsunade glanced up at the young woman in white garb. "Why?"

The woman blushed. "Just curious, Ma'am."

"Got the hots for him, too?"

The young woman grew redder. "He saved my parents. Is it wrong to admire him? Besides, I was just asking. I want to repay him in anyway I can."

Tsunade said, "Go to bed with him, then. It'll help him a lot."

"Master Tsunade!"

Tsunade laughed. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to lighten the mood. I'm gonna be honest with you. He did not take it well. He wants some time alone to sort things out."

"All right," the woman muttered, looking down at the floor. "But if there's anything I can do, even if, even if it's sleeping with him, just give me a call."

"You like him that much?"

"To tell you the truth, Ma'am, I've been a secret admirer of his for a long time." The woman bowed and left Tsunade.

When she was out of the room, Tsunade murmured, "One fine lady added on the list. With these fine ladies popping out one after the other, he can already take over the world or trigger the next world war."

…

Naruto sneaked out of Tsunade's mansion that night, bringing with him bottles of sake. He went to the rooftop of the Temple of the Sacred Phoenix and began drinking as he watched the moon in the sky. It was cold, but he ignored it. He was finishing his third bottle when he heard the voice coming from below.

"Underage drinking. It's illegal all over the world, brat," said Zama Itsuki, the current Head Warden of Konoha's prison. "I can take the responsibility if you let me join you."

"Hello, old man," Naruto said. "Come. Sit by me. Let's enjoy the night sky."

Itsuki smiled. "Glad to." He leaped over the ridge of the temple roof with a single kick and sat beside Naruto. Naruto passed him a bottle of sake while taking a swig from his own bottle.

"I heard about what happened earlier," Itsuki began. "I wouldn't have been able to make that decision on the spot."

"He's gone overboard, old man, he's gone overboard. I can't let that pass. I can't turn a blind eye on this."

"Yes. That's the most logical choice. Killing innocent people is unforgivable, even if you ask the purest saint."

Naruto was silent for a moment until finally he asked, "Old man, what do you think has made Sasuke that way?"

Itsuki glanced at him. "You sure you don't know?" Naruto shook his head. "I've been following your story for awhile now, and in a general sense, it is clear to me what has been happening between the two of you. His intention is clear. He wants you, his rival, and the only possible human being that can stop him, to know that he has to be killed. He wants you to understand how serious he is with his goal. He doesn't care how many he will have to kill to convey his point." Naruto turned to him. "The reason he has taken things up a notch is because of your stubbornness."

"It's my fault?"

Itsuki sipped sake from his bottle. "Why have you been working so hard to get stronger? You're popular because of it. Isn't it so that the village will acknowledge you?" Naruto nodded. "Why do you think Pain became a villain? Isn't it that he wanted the world to acknowledge the pain and suffering war creates?" Naruto nodded again. "It's the same thing. Sasuke has already acknowledged you, Naruto. Now it's your turn to acknowledge him. He is telling you something, I don't know if unconsciously, and you need to find that out yourself. One of his motivations is hatred for Konoha, but it is only one. There are others lurking beneath his actions that he doesn't recognize himself."

"What do you mean?"

"You wanted to save him before. Why?"

"Because I don't want him straying from the right path."

"_I. _That's the bad thing about it. It's the concept of I-know-the-right-thing-for-you-so-listen-to-me-bullshit. Naruto, everyone has the freedom of choice. Everyone has an ego to take care of."

"Then what should I have done?" Naruto asked. "Should I have let him do what he wanted?"

"You should have just let go."

"What?"

"You should have acknowledged his need for revenge and the origin of his hatred. You could have just been there to stop him, not take him back. You shouldn't have said that you understood what he was going through."

Naruto remembered Sasuke's words in their fight at the Valley of the End. _You will never understand the feeling of losing a family for you don't have a family_ _to begin with!_

"But would it have been right to let him be? He was still my friend," Naruto said. "And I made a promise to…to a special someone that I'd take Sasuke back."

Itsuki sighed. "Sasuke, a villain now, will act like a villain every single day. He has already made his choice. You already made yours, and you must stick to it, no matter what, for his and your own good." He glanced at Naruto, regretfully. "I'm afraid he doesn't trust you anymore."

"What do you think should I do now?"

"Defeat him. Acknowledge what he is and crush him."

"You mean kill him."

Itsuki just smiled. He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Don't take your _other_ friends for granted for a single guy. He's not worth other people's lives."

There was silence for a bit. Then Naruto said, "When that little girl slapped me, even before I heard her words, I realized my mistake. The worst thing I did to him is _almost_ killed him. Three times. I thought that I was getting through to him a little at a time. But I was wrong. He hated me more for it." He paused. "He hated me because I kept him alive."

…

The next day, Tsunade sent a team to Orochimaru's hideout for reconnaissance. The ANBU would report back two days later. For the meantime, she wanted to know how Naruto was faring over the collapse of his past conviction. History repeats itself, the famous axiom says, and Tsunade had proven it a lot of times already. Naruto had overcome obstacles and usually realized what he believed to be true. He had showed them countless miracles. This had led her to believe that he was invincible to the core, that the heavens were doting on him for some reason. But she was wrong to assume the role of fate's interpreter. Like what she had felt years ago about Orochimaru's defection, Naruto would not accept the glaring fact that Sasuke was already a lost cause. He clung onto it, looking away from the truth. She remembered herself and Jiraiya doing the same thing two generations ago. Nobody could dissuade them. It took years of patience and hope until the damage was already too large to ignore the obvious. If they had just let go and accepted what Orochimaru had become sooner, they could have saved many lives. Men like Orochimaru and Sasuke, geniuses so rare that even their atrocity could not defame them completely, once set on a goal, are difficult to deter. She should have seen it coming the moment she experienced Orochimaru's first attempt to realize his greed, but she looked away from reality and waited for it to happen first. It was her worst mistake and it entailed, ruthlessly, Naruto's current plight.

Tsunade found Naruto's room empty that morning and immediately called for a search party. She was so distraught over Naruto's sudden disappearance that she ran in the hallways. She spilled into the cafeteria, looked around, and fled like hell was at her heels. Kakashi appeared and led her into her office. Slumping in her chair, Tsunade began to cry. "Find him," he said. "Find him, please."

"We are trying our best, Hokage-sama," he said and left.

The awful memory of Naruto lying on the metal table inside the morgue played morbidly in her mind. Naruto was too pure. She should have kept a close eye on him. Having the deaths of so many innocent lives on his shoulder could drown him in guilt.

Knocks came from the door. Tsunade rushed over to open it. It was Karin. Seeing how surprised the redhead was, Tsunade thought how pathetic she must look like right now. But she pushed that thought aside and held Karin's hand.

"Make it a good one, please," Tsunade said.

Karin smiled. "I tracked him down. He's in the prison. Ironically, inside the same cell I was locked in."

"Prison?"

With tears still gleaming on her face, Tsunade hurried to the dungeon in the Temple of the Sacred Phoenix. Zama Itsuki fell over his desk when she barged in and climbed down the stairs with Karin chasing after her. Itsuki was up in no time, running after the two.

Tsunade arrived at the cell just as Naruto was getting out of bed. She lunged at him and pulled his face in her ample bosom. She began crying again, her embrace bone-breaking.

"Grandma…" Naruto choked.

"You goddamn son of a bitch! Damn you!" she hissed. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"I can't breathe, Grandma. Please."

Tsunade eased up and glared at Naruto. She pinched his side, drawing a howl from him. "Why did you have to sneak out?"

"Uh, Master Tsunade?" Itsuki interjected.

"What?"

"I'm the one responsible for it."

Tsunade stared at the old warden for a long time. Then she said, "No. You can't fool me."

Suddenly, Naruto grabbed her face and forced her to turn to him. "I'm sorry if I scared you. I'm fine, okay? Itsuki-jii-chan helped me get my feet back on the ground. Have you had breakfast, yet? I'd like to try your home-cooking."

The petulant gleam in Tsunade's eyes stayed for awhile longer before she heaved a sigh of relief. "All right. Don't pull something like this again on me, got it?"

Naruto grinned and embraced her. "I love you, Grandma!" he exclaimed with exaggerated enthusiasm. He winked at Itsuki and Karin, mouthing an apology at them. Both smiled in reply.

…

The commotion settled down without the whole town knowing about it. As usual, the ANBU and the Search and Rescue Group, in which the Inuzuka Tracking Specialists Team (ITST) and Hyuuga Special Search Squad (HS3) were a part of, had worked silently and thoroughly. The leader of the pack, before Tsunade announced a false alarm, had come to suggest that they try for the outer boundaries of Konoha; their search inside the village had turned up negative. "We have upended every rock, and nothing," he said. Then Tsunade told them that Karin had tracked down Naruto. Normal shinobis would have showed irritation or relief, but these blank-faced professionals simply nodded and left.

After breakfast, Naruto dozed off for a few hours. Karin watched over him while he slept. She observed his chakra. Its flow was serene and a shade darker than its usual vibrant yellow. Its quality had intensified a little but the warmth was still there, even warmer than before. She was not sure what it meant. Only that the change had happened yesterday, after Sasuke showed up.

"I'll discover it soon enough," she said. "Nonetheless, I'm glad you decided to fight that guy head on."

…

Chiasa was standing at the window, watching Konoha as it went with its silence. The sun shone down on the rooftops. Only a handful walked by on the streets: a peddler, an old woman coming out of the hospital, a carpenter with a wood plank on his shoulder. She slid the window open, and the breeze rushed into her face. She sighed at the refreshing feeling that immediately enfolded her.

As flashes of radiant sceneries in her childhood came up, she heard knocks from the door. A nurse peeked through the doorway. Finding her at the window, the young nurse smiled.

"I see that you're up and bouncing already," she said.

"Just stretching my legs," Chiasa said.

The nurse nodded and retreated back in the hallway. "They're coming."

"Who?"

"The Hokage. She's with Uzumaki-san."

"What? Hey, how do I look?"

The nurse playfully glared. "You're so mean. How can you ask me something like that?"

"I'm serious, Miki. I'm gonna be formal with you again if you don't answer me."

Miki sighed. "Except for the chapped lips and a paler complexion, you're stunning." She took a glimpse over her shoulder. "They're here."

Chiasa saw Miki bow down to someone in the hallway—the door blocked her view. Miki came and pushed the door in, revealing Tsunade and Naruto. Naruto raised a bag of apples in his right hand.

Chiasa dipped her head. "An honor, Master Hokage."

"Good afternoon," Tsunade said, returning the bow.

"I got your apples," Naruto said.

"Thank you, Naruto."

Beaming, Naruto went to the sink. Miki, on the other hand, politely left the room.

"Naruto was not exaggerating when he told me that you were quite a beauty," Tsunade said.

A blush crept up to Chiasa's face. "I'm flattered, Hokage-sama."

"How are you?"

"I'm doing fine. I never thought that I would be able to stand up after only three days. I'm surprised that I can already go around the room without someone's help. Your medical techniques are superb, and the nurses treat me nicely."

"I'm glad to hear that. Don't you want to sit down?"

Chiasa shook her head. "I want to stay here by the window, if you don't mind."

"Suit yourself, then."

Naruto came with a plate of sliced apples. He put it down on a small table. "I'll be outside, Grandma. Don't bully her, okay?" To Chiasa, he said, "I'll see you later, Chiasa." He went out of the room and pulled the door silently behind him.

Tsunade said, "May I see the amulet? You have it, don't you?"

"Yes. I always have it with me." Chiasa took the necklace off her neck and handed it over to Tsunade. She tried to hide her disappointment at her and the amulet's imminent parting. "He said it was yours."

"It was." Tsunade stared at the purple crystal in her palm. Then she looked up and said, "He said you were an Uchiha. Is that true?"

An instant of trepidation kept her quiet for a moment. She swallowed. "I am, Master Hokage."

"Show me your Sharingan."

Chiasa did. Tsunade's face hardened upon seeing them, but gradually her expression softened. She closed her eyes as if remembering a terrible memory.

"Master Hokage, are you okay?" Chiasa asked.

Tsunade waved her off. "I'm okay," she said. She sat down on the edge of the bed. "Let's just say that I did not prepare myself for this. The only remaining Uchiha in the Fire Country—the whole east, for that matter—is Uchiha Sasuke, and he is a renegade."

"I'm not the only one. A whole clan of Uchiha lives in Morigakure."

"Naruto was trying to tell me the same thing. This is unbelievable."

Tsunade took a few minutes to mull over the situation. The room fell into silence. Chiasa looked up at the sky, comfortable now with Tsunade's presence. _They give off the same feeling, she and Hashirama-sensei. They are both of the same blood, unquestionably._

"I understand now," Tsunade said. She stood up and went beside Chiasa. "Take care of this amulet." Chiasa was about to intone a protest, but Tsunade cut her short by putting the necklace back on her neck. "I gave it to Naruto and Naruto gave it to you. It's yours now. I just wanted to see it one more time."

Chiasa was speechless.

"We must keep your identity hidden for the meantime," Tsunade went on. "We need to be very careful. And one more thing. I won't allow you to go with Naruto. You need to recover one hundred percent."

"Naruto has already warned me about that," Chiasa said, smiling. "No, I'm not going."

"Good. I'm glad you're not as stubborn as he is. That boy will break my backbone one of these days because of his obstinacy."

"I know what you mean."

They both laughed.

"Oh, before I forget. This is for you," Tsunade said, fetching a forehead protector from her belt pocket. "I'll come back with the citizenship application forms that you need to fill up. For now, all you have to do is recuperate."

"I understand. Thank you very much, Hokage-sama."

"Immigrants are always welcome. How much more talented shinobis?" Tsunade smiled. "You're the second one. Welcome to Konoha."

…

"Stay down!" Shikamaru hissed. These girls were being a handful at the moment. He was glad Momoko was stationed somewhere else or he'd go crazy. They were hiding behind bulky trunks of trees, behind thick bushes, overlooking a small village fifty yards ahead. It was the first village they had seen after two days of travel from the Sumiragi Estate.

The reason Sakura and Ino could hardly contain themselves was the scenery in front of them. Seven emaciated villagers were on a platform, shivering and pale, eyes trained on their kin, pleading for help. Two were children, the rest of old age. Just the sight of incomprehension and panic on their faces was enough to call upon rage towards their captors. A soldier walked behind the hostages with his sword and sneer. Another one talked below with an intimidating snarl. Around, on rooftops, at doorways, and at the exit, spearmen, archers, and some on horseback—the commanders—stood on guard. They had locked the remaining villagers in the center of the village.

Albeit the words of the soldier in front of the platform did not reach his ears, Shikamaru could tell that the soldier was coercing information from the villagers. The soldier spoke another language, a dialect in Sanmyaku, he guessed, but the manner in which the soldier delivered the words made him mad. It reminded him of how Ibiki, Konoha's top interrogator, _persuaded_ captives into betraying their lords. It might not work on seasoned spies, but if directed towards an ordinary civilian, it could bring about permanent psychological damage like phobia.

He would have already attacked if he had been who he was not, the reckless type. He knew that they could take on that number. Sakura and Shino alone were enough to crush them. You can't defend yourself with a regiment of knights if Shino is mad. You can't hide behind a great wall of stones if Sakura is angry. Numbers did not really matter. What mattered was the inclusion of civilians.

As the elected leader of their group, Shikamaru had to ensure that civilians were not hurt. In any war, civilian fatalities on both sides did not only show incompetence of leadership but also the blatant disregard of the Rules of Engagement. Shikamaru ignored all rules in war. Protection of innocent lives was the most important to him. He could never enact it by giving in to his emotions.

He knew that the leader of the soldiers was a veteran strategist. He had arranged for the civilians to be hostages in case the rebels made an attack from the outside. Ironically, his tactic was to defend themselves by aiming their blades away from the enemy. And Shikamaru thought it to be cunning for its ruthlessness.

Shikamaru's plan was simple. Kaguya assured him of her archers' accuracy. She had told him that they could hit anything in their range where they wanted it hit. The soldiers were in their range, less than three hundred meters. With their chakra-imbuing technique, they could increase their arrows' speed three times the ordinary. Yes, she said, they could hit every soldier in the village simultaneously. Momoko was positioned behind a knoll to create a diversion. A line of bugs extended from her feet through which Shino would give her the signal. Once Kaguya nodded her confirmation, the operation would start.

Now all they had to do was to endure the worst of it—waiting for the right time. Sakura and Ino could barely hold their ground. He knew that Momoko was itching to start as well. He had firmly warned them against the danger of premature execution of the plan and he was hoping that they would keep their patience until the very end. Their unity would guarantee them success.

Shikamaru focused on the lone figure under the tree beside the village well.

…

He could not get through to them. Either they did not know or they were simply refusing to cooperate. These people proved to be as intimidating with their silence as him with his threats. He looked over his shoulder at the big figure of his commander watching over the proceedings from under a tree. He was asking for permission to go on to the next level. His commander nodded.

"This is your last chance. Talk or one of the children dies," he said. He heard a wail behind him as his executioner pulled forward the smaller boy in front. It was irritating. "Now choose." He paused. "In ten seconds, this boy will die if nobody speaks up." He looked around, a microscopic part of his remaining humanity hoping that someone would try to save the young boy, even with a lie. He only got glares from the men. The women closed their eyes. _Now you've done it. _"Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four—"

A large explosion turned everyone's head towards it. There was a thick cloud of dust behind the knoll—his eyes widened as he realized what it was for. He was only a subordinate but he was the one who had designed this tactic. He was the sharpest one. He was the most intelligent. And immediately he knew he was dead.

...

Frozen, the commander watched as his men fell down almost at the same time. An arrow suddenly appeared from nowhere and pierced through their skulls. The sight was like watching a basher bashing watermelons. The crack of skulls and the spill of brains made his throat dry and his blood drain. He was a middle-aged man, a seasoned veteran of many wars, but it was his first time seeing something as sickening as this. He couldn't believe his eyes.

What was more incredible was his feet suddenly began to move on their own. He wanted to see what was happening but he could not look down. He went on into the crowd until he came face to face with a youth barely out of puberty. The young man had piercing eyes. From the periphery of his vision, he caught a glimpse of a forehead protector. He smiled inwardly.

_I see. So I'm against a shinobi. _He rolled the pill of cyanide out from under his tongue. _I didn't expect that one day I would have to resort to this._

"If you kill yourself, you'll just be wasting your life," the shinobi said. "I have a friend that can read the memory of dead people…"

The shinobi spoke of a girl's name. A short but beautiful name. He looked over the shinobi's shoulder and spotted four lovely young ladies. A blonde, a pink-haired, a dark-skinned, and a black-haired. All were gorgeous and all were not hiding their contempt. _My daughter would have been as old as them now if she had lived. _He stared at the blonde girl. _I seldom make mistakes in guessing games. You are Ino, am I right?_

_I pray for your success._

With a parting smile, he crunched the pill between his teeth and accepted his death.

…

Two days had passed and she missed Uzumaki Naruto, whom she affectionately called 'My Golden Prince.' Kalua liked the people he was with. And Rock Lee, the lean man with the thick brows and coconut shell hair style, was quite taken with her. Kushina, her prince's mother, was overprotective of her. She treated her like a daughter. Aika still kept a distance but Kushina had explained that the young Hyuuga treated every pretty girl a rival. She unabashedly admitted that 'My Golden Son' was _the_ genuine lady killer, that Setsuko, Tenten, and Aika were fighting over him, so she should expect cold shoulders now and again. Anyway, Kushina assured, no one would abandon her at times of need. "You are now a part of our family," she said. At these words beads of tears fell down from her eyes. It was the first time she had enjoyed crying.

But the best thing she liked about them was their complete acceptance of what she was. They never judged her by her skin. She felt like an ordinary girl with them. She even enjoyed Setsuko and Aika's insecure glances. "You are my emerald," Rock Lee had told her. "And I'm your jade."

When they reached Hashaboro's outskirts, she just had to leave her old beliefs. There, walking side by side with humans, were men of different species. Some looked like sharks. Some had two heads. As hours went by, her sense of inclusion strengthened. "There are others like me," she said.

"Yes," Kushina replied. "I don't know but it seems that the only humans they regard as alien in this country are people with blonde hair."

"That's unfair! Naruto-sama will feel out of place."

"He may, sweetheart, but Naruto has a different way of thinking than the majority. You don't need to worry about him."

"I wish he come soon."

Neji stopped at the edge of the roadway and looked over a highly industrialized city to the north. He looked at the map he had got from Hibarashi's servant. After checking the place over, he rolled the map and put it back into his knapsack. "That's Ajit," he said. "Now we just have to wait for Naruto to come back. Kalua, are you sure you don't remember anything about the Left Wing?"

Kalua shook her head. "I'm sorry I can't be of help. A technique must have erased my memory of them. I'm sorry, Neji-san."

"No. It's a normal procedure among members of a criminal organization. I would have been more surprised otherwise."

"Sorry…" she said in a barely audible voice.

Neji turned to her and smiled. "Not your fault." He messed her hair. "Let's find a good place to camp."

…

"You're losing weight again, Midori," Tsuneo said. "It's been only four days but you look like you haven't eaten for two months."

They had established camp in the Valley of Pipes, so named because of its chimney-like rock formations. It was two days walk away from Kakari, the province where Hashirama thought Mushashi would likely hide.

Midori raised her head and offered a weak smile. "I'm anxious, Father. I don't know how I should act in front of my true parents."

"Give in to your heart when the time comes," Tsuneo said. His smile was that of sadness. "It will show you the way. Right, Luka?" He reached over to rub the white fox's perky ears. "See? Even Luka agrees."

"She will agree on anything for a scratch behind the ear." She held Tsuneo's hand. "You will always be my father. I'm still not sure of what to think of the situation but that will never change."

"Midori, I'm a bit sad that we will soon part, but think about how they might have felt that day when they gave you to me. My sadness will never match theirs. They were robbed of the right to raise you. They lost two children from the moment of birth. I won't even try to imagine how painful that is."

"I don't know. If I could only change this one fact, I would already have. I'd rather not meet them."

Tsuneo gave Midori's hand a squeeze. "It's unfair of you to think that way, Midori. Mushashi-dono and Sayuri-dono are the kindest people that I've ever met. You will fall in love with them at first sight."

Midori nodded.

"Eat something. I have a hunch that Enka and Akito will show interest in Naruto. I don't want you to be pushed aside."

"They haven't met yet but they are already showing some interest in him. Besides, what does eating have to do with it?"

"Geez, both of you are so dense! Boys want plump bodies, Midori, not skinny ones. Eat something. Your breasts are receding."

Midori gaped. She covered her breasts. "That's disgusting, Father! How could you check on your own daughter?"

"I'm merely stating a fact. Now if you don't want to fall behind—those two are quite cute, mind you—don't disregard your health. I did observe Naruto when he was still around. He once blushed when I asked him if he found you pretty."

"He blushed?" She cleared her throat. "You said he blushed."

Tsuneo bobbed his head. "Yes. Cross my heart."

Midori glanced at Akito and Enka. Tsuneo was right. They were charming people, especially Akito. That girl was best suited for a man like Naruto. Being the second-in-command of Lotus's army only meant that she was Kage material. She was perfect in appearance, she was regarded as a genius, and she had earned the respect of her colleagues. What more could a man ask for from a woman? Enka was bubbly and wild, impetuous and reckless. She and Naruto had so much in common. They would be close friends once they knew each other.

Midori swallowed. "Where did you keep the pot of rice?"

Tsuneo roared with laughter when he heard this.

_To be continued..._

Author's Note:

Sorry for the hiatus, friends. I needed to concentrate on my review in the past weeks. Fortunately, I passed the board exam. Now I'm a licensed civil engineer. For those who sent reviews and added this story on their fave list, thanks a lot!


	59. Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Snakes, Monsters, and Heroes

Shikaku Nara surveyed the area around the cave. The ANBU who had conducted the reconnaissance was telling the truth. The place was filled with corpses. The air was thick and putrid and flies, ants, and maggots were having a field day. In his estimation, these people had died more or less five days ago.

"This is awful," an ANBU said.

"Hachiro, is anybody alive?" Shikaku asked. Hachiro immediately activated his Byakugan and assessed the situation.

"Everyone is dead, Captain," Hachiro said. "I just can't believe…"

"Go on."

"My Byakugan can see the size and structure of the chakra circulatory system even if there is no chakra circulating in it. Captain, these people have modified chakra circulatory systems. Based on what I can see, chakra-wise these people shouldn't have been easy to defeat. There are three hundred and twelve corpses here, including Orochimaru's." He looked at Shikaku. "I don't see how Sasuke could have succeeded in doing this alone."

"Are you implying that he had companions?"

"I'm not sure. That's the most possible explanation."

Shikaku shook his head. "Look at the position of the corpses." Hachiro heeded Shikaku and gradually his eyes widened in realization. "See what I mean? They were facing in one direction before they died. To make it more specific, they were facing a single opponent. Sasuke stood before them, taunting them. He showed them—or maybe even told them—his intention. They pulled their weapons and posed to attack, but in the blink of an eye Sasuke was in front of the mouth of the cave and they were all dead. He might have used a technique similar to the Fourth's Flying Thunder God."

"How can you say that?"

"Look. Some had their hands pressed under their bodies. Others fell on their noses."

Hachiro frowned. "I don't get it."

"They died on their feet, Hachiro. They didn't have the chance to defend themselves. The body is a mysterious collection of processes and systems. Caught off-guard, the body will instinctively protect its smaller and weaker parts from pain. Hands get out of the way so that the body will catch the fall. The head turns its cheek to catch the impact. That's the law that bound every human being. The little ones are protected by the big ones, the weak by the strong. These people died without knowing what got them." Shikaku exhaled. "Let's go. Tell the body collectors to be careful with handling the corpses. They might give us hints on how Sasuke managed to pull this off."

During that conversation, Naruto had been quietly listening. Shikaku walked over to him and asked if he wanted to go inside. Naruto said yes. Sai and Hinata chose to stay to investigate the surroundings. Only Temari and Karin would go with Naruto. Shikaku went next to the representatives from Iwa, Suna, Kiri, and Kumo. The leaders chose two companions to go with them inside the cave and told the rest to stay on guard.

"We will divide the corpses accordingly for our individual investigations," said the team leader from Kumo. "But it's your prerogative to take Orochimaru's corpse with you."

"All right," Shikaku said. "Let's get this over with. Let's go."

…

The scene inside the cave did not have much difference as what they had seen outside. There seemed to be no struggle at all. The large vats Orochimaru might have used for his experiments were intact. It was easy to deduct that the massacre had been carried out by a phantom. Shikaku took in the place, mentally reconstructing what might have transpired inside the cave.

_Sasuke, how did you do this? Have you attained the level of gods?_

"Captain, there's Orochimaru."

Orochimaru's body was leaning on the far wall, palms up and a sword sticking out of his chest. Shikaku and the ANBU went over to the corpse. The first thing Shikaku inspected was the sword. He closely scrutinized its appearance until he found what he was looking for.

"A forbidden seal," he said. "This is the Seal of Demonic Chains. It's a part of the most forbidden ancient shinobi techniques of the Uchiha clan. Forbidden because you have to sacrifice a hundred lives before you can activate it. Very convenient for Sasuke as he had more than three hundred here."

"What does it do?"

"It is designed to kill dragons as the poets described it. In our language, it's for subduing summoning beasts and tailed-beasts." Shikaku frowned. "I just can't understand one thing."

"What's on your mind, Captain?"

"It just seems unlikely."

"Sasuke has a new set of eyes," Naruto said, walking over to them. "He has three pupils in each eye. What do you make out of it, Shikaku-san?"

"Three pupils, you say?" _Sasuke…For someone as young as you to attain it. Has your hatred become as deep as hers? _Shikaku sighed. "It's the Saiga Sharingan. That explains it. Even with the Eternal Mangekyou, an Uchiha still needs to sacrifice one of his eyes for this technique. I don't think Sasuke will do that. Only someone having the Saiga Sharingan can use the technique with only the first condition to think about."

"That's impossible, Captain!" the ANBU said. "Amaterasu's Saiga Sharingan is only a myth!"

"Take note of this. We will need all the literature we have about the Saiga Sharingan. Tch. I hope it's not one of the reasons Itachi had to annihilate his own clan." Shikaku stood up. "Naruto, you need to stay here for a while. You have to learn everything you can about the Saiga Sharingan."

"That's okay, Shikaku-san. There is still something I must do in the west. Don't worry. I want to fight Sasuke fair and square. He, too, is in the dark when it comes to my own progress."

"Do you think you can beat him? As the myth goes, the Uchiha and the Senju had to create an alliance just to survive the Saiga Sharingan. If you were not just seeing things and Sasuke really possesses the Saiga, you might not stand a chance against him."

Naruto smiled. "I will have to wait for that. Right now, first thing's first."

_Where is your confidence coming from?_ "Just don't underestimate the Saiga's power. For starters, think of it as the state that surpasses even the attainment of the Six Paths and the Four Noble Truths. Sasuke is possibly superior now to the Sage of Six Paths."

"We'll see."

The ANBU who was with them noticed something beneath Orochimaru's upturned palm. It was a marking made of blood. If he knew better, he wouldn't have touched it. But as an investigator, his curiosity made the better out of him. The mark was clearly drawn with a finger. It was a circle with illegible writings in and around it. This was the first time the ANBU had ever seen a marking like it.

"Captain, look at this—"

Shikaku was too late to stop him. _That's—how? Why haven't I noticed it before?_ With fear in his eyes, he stared at Orochimaru. _Orochimaru…to think that you could still cast a Genjutsu even as you were dying._

The ANBU's finger tip touched the mark, and then a great trembling followed.

"Everybody get out! Quick!" Shikaku yelled.

The ANBU's chakra burst into the marking. Orochimaru's body began to disintegrate. The ANBU disappeared altogether. Only his clothes remained. And Orochimaru vanished, never to be seen again.

The cave caved in into itself and created a hill of earth, rubble, and dust.

…

Tsunade heard the ramble of collapse below where they were. She was with five other Kage: the Kazekage Gaara, the Raikage A, the Mizukage Mei Terumi, the Tsuchikage Onoki, and the Yukikage Shiroi. They had been expecting a battle so they decided to come for good measure. The ninjas that were with them were all A and S class, but they did not want to chance it against Orochimaru and Madara. The report was clear. Madara was gone and Orochimaru was dead, but they had learned their lesson.

"What was that?" Onoki asked, trying to turn about his rheumatic back and pointing with his bulbous nose. "It came from the cave."

"Come on! Let's see what's happening over there," Gaara said. He, Onoki, and A went ahead of the women.

"Master Tsunade, do you think Orochimaru is still alive?" the Mizukage said.

Tsunade woke up from her thinking. "I don't know."

"There is only one way to find out," the Yukikage said. "Let's go."

…

The dust settled over the collapsed cave but the tension did not. Everyone looked confused. Then, a too familiar sight greeted their pale faces. Four wooden caskets emerged from the top of the heap. Each bore a number. Casket number two opened and from the darkness inside a white-skinned man with gray armor emerged.

Shikaku's eyes bulged upon recognition of the man. "It's the Second!"

Tobirama Senju formed a series of seals at light speed. "Naruto, stay inside. Tell your friends to stay away. Senju Clan Hidden Art: Accelerated Time Barrier!"

Horrified, Naruto hollered, "Get back!"

For a split second, nobody moved. Naruto had to repeat it before the first one registered what was happening. A barrier expanded outward from Tobirama. It covered ground fast. Every living thing that was caught inside the barrier aged, died, turned into bones, and then to dust. The barrier set an isolated space of one kilometer radius. Whatever flora and fauna was there a moment ago had disappeared. Only a desert remained.

"Whatever happens, do not touch the barrier!" Naruto said.

"What's happening, Naruto?" Karin asked. "How can you stay alive in it?"

"I got permission to stay."

"What is he saying?"

"It's the fabled technique of my granduncle," Tsunade said.

"We were worried that something like this would happen," the Raikage said. "Even with my speed, I am too late."

"Listen, no one of you should dare going inside that barrier. It is designed to pulverize any living thing it catches inside its range." To demonstrate her point, Tsunade threw a small plant inside. Instantly, the small plant turned into dust. "My grandfather and granduncle are reputed to be masters of time and dimensional techniques. As masters their techniques have only but one weakness. This barrier's weakness is pretty obvious but practically invulnerable."

"And the weakness is…?" Gaara asked.

Tsunade raised her hand and pointed at Tobirama. "He is. The continued existence of the barrier depends on my granduncle's consciousness. The barrier will disappear once he loses it or he dies."

"Then why only Naruto?"

"I'm afraid we have to wait for them to enlighten us. Even now, Orochimaru is still an enigma to me."

The Yukikage attempted to attack. "Ice Release: Freezing Point!" A cloud of cold fog shot out from her mouth and struck the barrier. It created a white ice wall. She jumped to kick the ice wall, believing that the barrier was elemental and tangible. Fortunately, the Raikage caught her in mid-air before she succeeded.

"Don't be too emotional, Yukikage," A said, setting her down.

"I'm not emotional, really. I'm homicidal," she growled. "We cannot lose him a second time."

"Look behind you. Do you think they don't care at all?" Indeed, the faces of those who did not have a mask were fearsome. Even without the frown, all their eyes blazed.

"No physical attack can touch it," Tsunade said. "And even if you managed to enter it, you would still die. It's completely another world."

"Why don't Naruto use his dimensional teleportation technique to get out of there?" Temari asked.

"He won't do that," Tsunade said. "Especially that one of the coffins contains _him._"

Now the other three caskets opened. Stifled gasps greeted the men's return. Accordingly, the three other Hokages emerged from the caskets with Minato on the lead.

"It's the Fourth!"

"Oh my God! Isn't he the one the Third prevented from being resurrected during Orochimaru's attack on Konoha?"

Such was the sentiments of the lower ranked ninjas amidst the Kages. But now that they saw the Yellow Flash of Konoha, they understood what Tsunade was trying to say. If Naruto tried to escape, Minato would shift his attention on them. It might have been okay if he was alone for the Raikage was there with them, but he was not alone. With the Second showing off one of his frightening techniques, the Shodai and Sandaime would surely use their trump cards, too. The thought was too frightening even to consider.

Silence prevailed for a time.

"Naruto-kun, do your best!" Hinata bellowed, though her voice was not that loud. Heads turned on her.

"Okay!" Naruto yelled back. "If you do anything stupid, I'll never forgive you, Hinata!"

Hinata's gentle urging fired up the sagging hope of the others.

Tsunade said, "Yes, we should observe. Somehow we'll find some glaring holes."

…

Meanwhile, in Kogiwara, Hashirama suddenly stopped on his track, looking over his shoulder as if someone called him.

Akito, his deputy commander, frowned at him. "What's wrong, Hashirama-sensei?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. I just thought…forget it." He clenched his jaws. _Someone has freed my original existence from the Seal of the Death God and is using it for his own interest. But…_He couldn't help smiling. _Whoever it is, it cannot be just anyone._

…

Minato walked to the edge of the ruin. He looked down at Naruto. "Nice eyes you got there, my son. I like them more now than the last time I saw you."

"What does Orochimaru want, Father?" Naruto said. "Why is he using you?"

"His request is simple," Minato said. "He sacrificed his right to reincarnation for this technique. This is Orochimaru's own creation, the _Soul Rebirth and Complete Resurrection Technique. _It gives us twenty four hours to complete the mission he gave us."

"I thought those souls who are sealed by the Hakke Fuin cannot be summoned back."

"Naruto, I explained to you about chakra in Hensen no Kuusho," Hashirama said. "I told you about certain rules of existence that cannot be violated. However, this technique is special. The caster gives up his right to reincarnation to violate the Law of Death and Rebirth that is set by Infinity, or what is popularly known as God. The caster in exchange can use any soul he likes that is already in the other world, wherever it might be or whatever its status is. His choice is boundless, as long as he knows what name to call."

"Orochimaru freed us from eternal captivity to test you," Hiruzen the Third said. "In my opinion, this is Orochimaru's unconscious attempt for redemption. He wants to try how strong you are right now. He believes that if you can defeat the four of us, _simultaneously, _you will be able to fare against Sasuke, to whom he had no chance to defend against."

"Unlike the Edo Tensei, Naruto, this technique literally revives the dead," Tobirama the Second said. "But for only twenty four hours. We will die as human beings, same as you if you don't fight your best."

"Then all I have to do is defeat you," Naruto said.

Minato said, "Yes. Having to revive the four of us only means that Orochimaru was very afraid of Sasuke. Please, Naruto, do your best. I don't want to see you die here."

"I defeated Hashirama-sensei and Tobirama-sensei on my own, Naruto, and I know that you are now stronger than I am," Hiruzen said. "Keep in mind that if you hesitate even once, you'll die. We will fight with everything we have. Do the same."

"Also, do not forget that we are already dead," Hashirama said. "In Hensen no Kuusho, I forbade you to use your strongest techniques. No prohibition is in order right now. Your goal is to render us incapacitated."

Naruto could only stare. He knew he was in serious predicament.

"If you try to escape, Naruto," Minato said, "we'll have to attack your companions. That's Orochimaru's order."

Naruto continued to stare.

…

"Did you hear that?" Hachiro said. "They are saying it will be four on one!"

"Our ears are open, Hachiro," Tsunade said. She clenched her teeth.

A few meters away, another conversation was taking place.

"I hope he dies," Karui, one of Bee's former apprentices, hissed. "He's the reason why Bee-sensei died."

"Shut up, Karui," Omoi, Karui's counterpart, said. "This is a serious matter. Don't say anything that'll bring bad luck."

Karui cast her amber eyes at Omoi. "He killed our master."

"No. Sasuke killed Bee-sensei."

"It's the same."

"It's not, Karui. Remember what Bee-sensei used to say? Nobody is a match against Sasuke but Naruto."

"Shut up! He just did not have the chance to see my true strength. I trained hard on my own time. I've grown strong."

Omoi watched his teammate. "Listen. I'll make a bet with you. Naruto will win this fight. Then you will reconsider him. You will think of him always, in your waking hours, at night, maybe even while you are taking a bath. Then you will accept that he is really strong. Afterwards, you will brood over the hatred you have been directing at him, and then you will find out that you have been wrong all along. You will forgive him. Then you will ask me to go with you one day. With me by your side, you will ask for his friendship. Being a kind person, he will accept. Then he will realize that you are pretty. He will start to ask you out without telling his intention at first—he waits for the right time. Then the right time comes. He professes his love for you. You ask him for some time to think it over, but in the end, you say yes, reasoning that he is strong and cute and, therefore, a big catch. You two marry. After a year, you give birth to a beautiful daughter that you will call Narui, and after five years, you give birth to a fair baby boy that you will call Karuto. You grow old together, and in your deathbed you remember this fight. Naruto asks you, 'When did you realize that it was love not hate that you had for me?' Then you answer, 'When you won that fight against the four Hokages.'" When he looked up to see her reaction, a drop of sweat rolled down his face. Karui's eyes had gone white and she was frothing in the mouth. He knew he had gone overboard with his exaggeration. "Karui?"

"You story-making-shithead!" Karui punched him in the face.

Rubbing his cheek, Omoi said, "That hurts, you know. What if a tumor grows out of my face, huh? What if I die prematurely?"

"Stop it, Omoi. You will not change my opinion of him that easily."

"Hmph. Watch him, closely. He's the only _outsider_ our sensei approved of. I'll win this bet and make an ass out of you."

"Nothing of that will ever happen because he'll lose."

"You seem pretty sure about that," Omoi said, glaring at Karui. "What's your bet?"

"Are you really serious?"

"Yes. So?"

"If I win, give me sensei's sixth sword."

Omoi looked at her. "What?"

"I thought you were serious."

"All right. Then if I win, you have to kiss him."

"What?"

"You want to back down? Just say so. I trust Sensei's judgment. Naruto will win this one."

Bristling, Karui considered. "All right. Deal. As if he'll win against four of the strongest shinobis that have ever lived."

Omoi blinked at her. He was surprised she agreed. "Are you sure?"

"He'll never last thirty minutes in there."

…

"I will not escape," Naruto said.

"Good. Here's the catch, son," Minato said. "You will have a better chance against us if you go for the barrier first. But, of course, we'll not make it easy for you. Tobirama-sama will not be able to use any other technique as long as he's maintaining the barrier. It will be our job to protect him—"

The four Hokages stopped moving. Then the phantom of the Death God rose behind them. Its demonic eyes gazed down at Naruto. The Death God reached for the knife in its mouth and raised it over its head. At the same time, it plunged its free arm into the ground and pulled something out of it. Naruto saw what the Death God had grabbed. It was Orochimaru's soul.

"When the strings are cut, the battle begins, Naruto," Minato said said.

The Death God put Orochimaru inside its mouth and swung the knife it held downward. The blade passed through the chakra chains that extended from the nape of the Hokages to the Death God's navel, cutting them. The Death God swallowed Orochimaru, put the knife back to its mouth, and formed the seal of ram. It mumbled something Naruto couldn't make out. After a while it opened its eyes, sending some kind of force into the Hokages. The Hokages' chest jerked forward as if they were hit by a sledgehammer from behind. Naruto watched as the Death God faded and disappeared. Finally, it was all business.

The four Hokages stood atop the ruins of the cave, determined to accomplish their mission.

"It's now, huh?" Naruto said. He tied his forehead protector around his head. "This brings back memories."

"The difference, Naruto, is this is not a sparring. No holding back," Hashirama said. He nodded at Tobirama. Tobirama leaped backwards, and then sat down in meditation. Hashirama kicked the ground twice and trees grew around Tobirama, completely covering him in thick trunks and roots.

"Shall we start, Naruto?" Minato said.

"Anytime, Father."

…

"It's starting," A said.

"Shit," Temari said, striking the ground with her giant fan. "What does it say about us? That we are too weak to protect him? Is that why the Second Hokage is keeping us away from him?"

Gaara grabbed her shoulder. "It's okay. He'll win." But the trembling in his hand betrayed the truth about his conviction.

"No…those are monsters," Karin said. She couldn't help but embrace Tsunade. Tsunade comforted her by rubbing her back.

"Believe in him," she said.

"Their chakra…I can feel their chakra…I never thought that a person could attain such incredible quality of chakra. He might die, Hokage-sama."

"Shush. He'll never let that happen."

The Mizukage was controlling her anxiety through clenched fists. "I know you'll never let us down, hero," she whispered.

"Come on, brat, you can do it," the Tsuchikage said under his breath. He had been observing the goings-on quietly since earlier.

A second after, everyone's eyes focused on Naruto and his opponents.

…

Minato produced a scroll from his back pocket and threw it into the sky. The scroll unraveled and spit out more than a thousand kunai.

"He's preparing to use the Flying Thunder God," Shikaku said. "If Naruto makes a mistake, this fight will not last long."

Naruto bit his thumb. Blood oozed out. "You already used this one on me, Father."

"Be sure to remember the sequence well. You never defeated this combination before." Minato kicked himself forward, and then disappeared. He and Naruto clashed, Naruto blocking his kunai thrust with his own kunai. "Good defense. Let's see how you will maintain it." Minato disappeared again. At the same time, a smoke screen fell from Naruto's jacket. Smoke hissed out from the can, screening Naruto's back. Minato appeared behind him, but suddenly a giant silhouette appeared from nowhere and cut Minato's approach from the side. Trees grew and caught the silhouette. Minato immediately got out from its mouth, flipping away from it. As quickly as it appeared, the silhouette vanished into smoke.

…

Hachiro, his Byakugan activated, said, "So fast…these people…how can they move so fast?"

"That was three-point-one-thirty-seven seconds based on my inner clock," A said. "As fast as I when I'm cloaked with lightning."

"Incredible," Shikaku said.

"What was that that attacked the Fourth?"

"A giant snake," Hachiro said. "Naruto summoned a snake, and then unsummoned it." A beat. "I don't understand it. I thought the barrier turned every living thing into dust. How come those trees and that snake could survive in there?"

"The reason why Tobirama-sama can't move while maintaining the barrier is because he filters everything that comes inside it by chakra recognition," Tsunade said. "It might be impossible for an ordinary shinobi—deciding the connection of something to the person he permitted to stay inside the barrier—but my granduncle is inhuman in that aspect."

"He filters—then we have a chance to breach into the barrier!"

"Can you alter your chakra signature?"

"No."

"Then rid your mind of that idea."

…

"Impressive," the Third said. "A new summoning beast, perhaps?"

"Yes, ojii-chan," Naruto said. He formed seals and conjured his surfboard. He was about to fly when Hashirama made his move.

"Wood Release: Birth of Dense Woodland!" In just three seconds, the desert was covered with large trees and not a single patch was singled out in the process. The whole place turned into a forest. "Now, flying will have its disadvantages."

"Tch. You are really making my life difficult," Naruto said.

Hashirama said. "That's our job. Minato, your kunai are intact, don't worry."

"I knew that you'd not make a small mistake like that, Hashirama-sama," Minato said.

"I'll be destroying some of your trees, Hashirama-sensei," the Third said. "Earth Release: Gravity Puppet!" From a speck of sand, it grew to a pebble, to a rock, a patch of land, boulder, and finally a giant statue of a monkey in full battle regalia of bronze and iron. The monkey let out a roar and did not waste time. It attacked. Using a pole made of solidified earth, the primate struck.

Naruto was able to evade by soaring up into the sky, but as Hashirama had stated, the trees covered the three Hokages beneath their leaves. He could only see the monkey looking around for him.

Naruto formed hand seals. Two Kage Bunshin appeared floating beside him on surfboards. "Let's blind them for awhile."

"Hai!"

"Hai!"

"That monkey should be dealt with immediately," Naruto said. "Pitting Boss Gamabunta or Serpent Queen Uzume against it is too dangerous. There's only one technique that I can use."

"Okay. Leave the diversion to us," one of the clones said.

A part of the forest turned from spring green to fall red. Hashirama clapped his hands. "Wood Release: Leaves of Konoha's Fall!" Wind blew and passed through these trees, sending thousands of yellow, orange, and red leaves in Naruto's direction.

Naruto frowned and raised his guard. "What is this for?" Then he caught sight of a leaf and found written on it a Thunder God Seal. His eyes widened as he turned to look behind. Minato popped up from a leaf and _ran_ towards Naruto. Naruto twisted his body to defend against Minato's kunai. He barely blocked it. A leaf landed on the front end of his surfboard. In that instant, Minato disappeared from behind him and reappeared in front, a Rasengan in hand. Naruto tried to move but couldn't. He struggled to get what was happening. Then he saw the Third concentrating on a binding seal. "Shit…" Naruto hissed.

"It's the end for you, son. I'm sorry," Minato said.

Naruto stiffened and then relaxed. "It seems like it."

Minato thrust his Rasengan into Naruto's chest amidst the screams and gasps of the watching crowd.

"I'll be taking you with me, Father. At least, the others will have a chance to survive." Naruto grabbed Minato's shoulders. His eyes smoldered and smoke came out his mouth. "Kamikaze!"

_Two _loud explosions rocked the small tensed world inside the barrier.

…

Minato was lucky to have a god-like reflex. He hardly escaped the explosive clone, but he escaped nonetheless by using a shield made of compressed air. His sole injury was a burn in his left cheek. Meanwhile, Naruto had succeeded in destroying the rock monkey with his Ultimate Rasengan. This had created a crater that had spiraling plow tracks. Naruto was standing in the middle of the crater.

"That was a clone, then," Minato muttered. "Good diversion."

Outside, Hachiro got goosebumps. "Naruto separated his body from that clone earlier. He was invisible to ordinary eyes. Then he flew off upward and created that giant Rasengan made of wind."

"Rate it," Shikaku said.

"Definitely an S. Range, potential damage, chakra requirement, skill of manipulation…that was an S-class wind technique."

"That mirage cloak he wound around his body is an impressive infiltration technique," Temari, a wind expert herself, said. "He used the vapor in the air to refract light, didn't he?"

"Yes. That's what he did."

Naruto was in Sage Mode now. He was looking straight ahead. "You'll gonna be the first to leave, ojii-chan." He jumped on his surfboard and dashed into the trees.

"Let the old guy rest for a bit," Hashirama said, as he attacked from Naruto's side. Hashirama sent a big punch that caught Naruto off-guard. Naruto could only cross his arms in defense. He flew off from his surfboard and skidded through thick trunks of trees.

Hashirama did not stop to rest. He chased after Naruto. In just a few seconds, he managed to get close to him. He spun around and sent a kick. Naruto blocked it and attacked with a kick of his own. A Taijutsu battle ensued. Being a Senju, Hashirama's attacks were earth-shattering, booming with strength. Every time Naruto tried to parry or block, his limbs were thrown away. He could barely match Hashirama in strength even in Sage Mode. Hashirama pushed him back little by little. But Naruto kept on trying. He was better in terms of speed. And after a time he was rewarded with a chance. Something distracted the Shodai Hokage and Naruto used the opportunity to connect a roundhouse kick to Hashirama's neck. Hashirama was unable to dodge or block. It was a clean hit and the force sent him rolling on the ground. Naruto felt that he won the Taijutsu battle. Little did he know that the thing that distracted Hashirama would break one of his ribs. Minato appeared from nowhere and bombed him with a knee to his right side. The force shoved him backward. When he stopped, he vomited blood. Minato made the hand seal for Tiger and the exploding seal he had attached onto Naruto's chest exploded.

Hinata fainted. Tsunade blanched. Karui, even though she was winning the bet, swallowed hard.

…

"This is impossible for him. Naruto is overmatched," said Shikaku. "Naruto is strong but—" He shook his head. "With the Fourth in there, the probability of him winning is less than two percent."

"I'm surprised you even gave him that high a percentage," A said. "I'm afraid he might die in there."

…

It had been so close. Without the burst of chakra to hasten his already blinding speed, he could not have pulled off the paper seal from his chest and thrown it away to give him time to leap back. But he was unable to avoid completely the explosion. The fire had eaten his shirt and skin and rocked his innards. Regeneration of his burned skin and torn flesh had already started, thanks to the Fox's chakra inside him. If he had been _just_ a shinobi, not a Jinchuuriki, he would have been dead by now.

He was watching his father. Minato was breathing hard from his mouth. The consecutive Flying Thunder God had begun taking its toll from him. A few paces behind his father, Hashirama lay immobile amidst a pile of debris. Naruto wanted to look around for the Third Hokage, but he couldn't take his eyes away from his father. Right now, Minato was his biggest threat. He had to prepare for another onslaught. He closed his eyes and changed back into Sage Mode.

…

Karui had been watching the battle closely and, despite herself, she was in awe at the moment. The strength of the Kages was expected. What she was bewildered with was Naruto's ability to fight against them. Naruto had remained standing for more than thirty minutes now, surpassing her initial prediction. And his unusual tenacity was seeping through her good side. She liked tough guys, whoever they were.

Now the Fourth Hokage attacked and he practically disappeared in spite of using only his feet. That was one of the fastest sprints she had seen in her life. Naruto stood waiting, and then they clashed. Minato was using a Taijutsu style that, in her eyes, aimed to kill instantly. He targeted fatal points like the temple, the throat, the heart, the kidneys, the spine, the collarbones, and the pate. He used his heels, feet blades, his two front knuckles, knees, shoulders, and elbows. A lot of elbows. _What kind of Taijutsu is that? _His attacks were sharp and deadly. Naruto, on the other hand, could barely defend himself. The only thing she was thankful about—thankful about?—was his presence of mind to redirect Minato's strikes somewhere not that critical. But he was beaten up, nonetheless. Minato was just on another level when it came to in-fighting. Naruto was being battered and pushed back. He couldn't even connect a nudge while Minato landed most of his attempts. Finally, Minato jumped up, spun in air, and sent a straight back kick. Naruto swung his arm downward and changed the direction of the kick toward his stomach. He gagged upon the contact of Minato's heel. Minato, relentless, stomped his feet forward and delivered a backhand at Naruto's temple. The strike was too fast that even bothering to dodge was useless. Naruto set his jaws, his eyes sharpened, and here Karui forgot her hatred of him. She uttered an involuntary cry. "No! Dodge it, you idiot!" Only Omoi at her right reacted to her voice. The backhand swing was coming fast. She thought that he would just stand there and accept his fate, but he suddenly surprised her when he began his own attack. _Are you crazy? What are you doing?_ Naruto's punch was fast enough so that his and Minato's fists connected at the same time. Karui ignored Minato. Her eyes remained on Naruto's body as it rolled into a ruined heap on the ground. She blanched when she saw his eyes. They had rolled into his skull. "YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" She bowed her head and gritted her teeth. "I could have dodged that backhand. Omoi, I would have been fast enough to dodge that."

Omoi was smiling at her. "Silly, look up. Don't forget that you bet _against_ me. I'm not gonna lose Sensei's sword just like that."

Reluctantly, Karui looked up and she saw for herself what Omoi was trying to say. Naruto was back on his feet! She began turning her head to give Omoi a smile of gratitude but caught herself and stopped midway. When it had happened, she did not know. But she was now completely on Naruto's side, kiss or no kiss.

…

Karin could feel the intensity of influence the chakra of the Demon Fox was doing. That last hit should have killed Naruto but the Fox intervened with his apparent death and revived him. She was sure that Naruto's confidence on taking on that backhand was because of that fact. Naruto was using every bit of advantage he had in this fight no matter what risk he had to face.

Minato was on his feet again, wiping the blood that had gushed out of his nose with the back of his hand. There was a smile of contentment on his face. No anger at all! He must be feeling proud about his son's progress. But Naruto had already proved that he deserved such appraisal. He could not think of anyone else capable of fighting against three Hokages at the same time. Orochimaru would not have managed to stay on his feet for a long time. Maybe Sasuke could have, but that was not the point. She was seeing everything in _actuality_ right now, no conjectures, no assumption. Naruto had really grown strong.

Behind him Hashirama woke up and rose. He used his trees to right his dislocated neck. He went and stood side by side with Minato.

"That was topnotch resilience and skill," he said. "Minato, your son was not this strong when he left Hensen no Kuusho."

"The scary part, Sensei, is he's still hesitant. I can feel that he's ambivalent about resorting to something strong but he's not completely comfortable with."

Hashirama smiled. "You mean he's been holding back? He has guts."

"A lot of it, apparently."

"Do you still have enough chakra for an A-class?"

"Still enough for an S-class, but it takes a long time to prepare."

"I'm going to do the attacking, then. I still have a lot in reserve."

"The Flying Thunder God has drained me. I'm counting on you."

"Okay."

With this Minato flipped away and hid himself from Naruto. He pulled out a rosary with black and white beads. He hung it on his right arm and began rotating it around his wrist. "I'm sorry, son, I guess we'd be prematurely reunited."

Karin's hair stood up on her scalp and goosebumps grew out of her skin. "Naruto! Your father is preparing a very powerful technique! Prevent him from completing it!"

Naruto nodded to tell her that he had heard, but his eyes remained on Hashirama.

"I'm here to prevent you from preventing your father, child," Hashirama said. "Now this is serious business. You prove to be the most elusive I've ever fought. Even Madara could not make me take off this armor." He unlocked the latches of his red armor and threw it away. It flew like any other armor would, but when it landed on the ground…boom! It destroyed the ground and sent tremors below. "It weighs a thousand times my weight."

The sight of Hashirama's tanned body sent shivers down Karin's spine. She couldn't explain the pattern of muscles in his body. They were rigid and the tendons were so pronounced they seemed ropes attaching bladders to bones. No percentage of fat could be seen, and having experience with human experiments, she could estimate how strong and precise each muscle was. Hashirama had a body built _especially_ for a single martial art and those unnecessary muscles that were not needed had already atrophied and melted. The Shodai Hokage, in her summarization, was a Taijutsu machine. Incredible how a human being could dedicate his life honing his body for a particular set of motions.

"Have you ever seen how trees move up to reach the sun?" Hashirama said. "It takes a lot of time and patience to observe how they grow, but its application to the art of fighting is limitless. I developed a Taijutsu based on their slow progress and subtlety. I call it Senkiken." He stopped and stared at Naruto. Then he started to make small motions. The moves were so incremental that Hashirama seemed to be moving in super slow motion. "The branches twist and turn, the roots dig and curve. Slowly they progress, slowly they grow. What if their potential energy were to burst in a single moment?" He jerked his right foot and a crater suddenly appeared. "Senkiken is the ultimate utilization of potential energy. With the right concentration and pattern of motion, partnered with correct timing of application and pinpoint accuracy of aim, one can inflict the maximum damage with the minimum amount of force and movement."

Naruto resumed his Sage Mode and attacked with Earth Release Earth Column Technique. An earthen column grew out of the patch of earth behind Naruto. It curved forward and thrust its tip towards Hashirama. Sluggishly, Hashirama raised his fist and when the tip of the column touched his knuckles, he pumped his arm with the smallest of motions. The column erupted into dust.

"Oh my God!" Karin blurted out. "That Senkiken…"

"Shikaku, what can you tell me about this technique?" Tsunade asked.

"Nothing was written on the subject, Master Tsunade. I don't know anything about it."

"Tch. So ojii-chan had taken this incredible technique to his grave. It could have saved a lot of lives."

"He knew that it was too dangerous to preserve," A said. "He did the right thing. I'm sure that all the great shinobis had their own techniques they kept secret until their deaths. The fact that Hashirama-dono did not use it even on Madara was proof enough. Besides, only a devoted genius like him will be able to master such unique Taijutsu."

_Naruto, what will you do? _Karin thought.

…

_Can I still avoid using the Fox's chakra?_ Naruto said to himself. He remembered the way the chakra would try eating his will every time he used it. Then he remembered Sasuke's face. _Our bond is severed._

"I sealed the Kyubi inside you because I believed that you would eventually master it," he heard his father telling him once.

_If I don't try now, then when? This is the best time to try. With Sage Mode alone, I won't be able to defeat them. And if I don't defeat them…_He turned to look at the worried faces outside the barrier. _They will be in danger._

_I can make things easier for you._ That had been the voice of the Demon Fox and the memory made him clench his teeth.

"I'm trying not to kill you. There is a part in me that is very eager to do that, but as long as I can, I will try to suppress it. Please consider admitting your defeat." He had told Talim these words.

_I should not hesitate, _he thought. He heard the Demon Fox laughing. _I can do this._ The laugh grew louder. _I will defeat Sasuke._

…

Hashirama swayed forward and disappeared. He appeared only inches away from Naruto, his fist moving ever so slowly towards Naruto's jaw. Then his fist vanished from sight. Naruto was thrown towards a tree, destroying it. Hashirama disappeared again. He became visible only to do his slow motion of a kick, and then he faded again into thin air. His feet landed onto Naruto's chest which created a loud explosion. He picked Naruto up with his right hand and threw him a combination. His attacks were comprised of his slow and superfast moves—the basis of Senkiken. In general, Hashirama seemed to brake before actually hitting his target. Everyone found it unusual, but they were all scared of it, especially that it was so effective against a Sage like Naruto. Hashirama sent a frontal kick into Naruto's side. Naruto dug a trench in the ground as he skidded away.

"It's done!" Minato said from behind.

Hashirama made trees grew from the ground. The trees wound around Naruto's limp body, hoisting it up into the sky. "Make sure to hit him."

"Least of my problems." Minato stopped spinning the rosary. "This is it for you, Naruto. I'm sorry." He raised his right arm and the rosary suddenly tightened around his wrist. He put his left foot back and used his left hand to support his right elbow. "Open, Pain Gate! Namikaze…Cannon!" A ball of pure white light shot out from Minato's spread palm. Because of its incredible speed, only Minato saw the ball. Others only saw a beam of light coming off his hand. The beam struck Naruto.

A bright flash erupted and blinded the world.

_To be continued…_


	60. Chapter 60

Chapter 60: Demon Fox Mode

"_NARUTO! _Let me go, you stinking old man!"

It was becoming difficult for A to hold Tsunade down. His strength, albeit he had been training for that particular aspect all his life, was inferior to hers. "Tsunade, calm down!"

"Let me—fuck it! How do you expect me to calm down? That technique! Don't you know that it killed Hermit Giyagoro of Mount Igamachiro?"

Surprise surfaced on A's face. "That defense specialist?"

"The Metal Man," Onoki broke in. "That guy was a one-man destroyer. Even my Detachment of the Primitive World Technique did not do damage on him."

"Now you know! Namikaze Cannon pulverized that old pervert in one shot! I don't know any other technique that can match it in damage level."

"But you won't be able to do anything but die in there," Gaara mumbled. He could not speak clearly because his mouth was so tensed. His fists were quivering at his sides.

Tsunade stared at the young Kage as if she had been slapped. Then the situation dawned on her again. It was suicide going in that damn barrier.

"Besides…" Gaara's voice faltered. "It seems we're too late."

The Yukikage cleared her throat. "It's good being cool-headed at times like this."

"Speak for yourself," A said. "Weren't you _homicidal _moments ago?"

A blush crept to the Yukikage's face. She cleared her throat again for a different reason. "As I was saying, you don't need to worry."

"How can you say that?" Tsunade said, but she was hopeful for good news. "Shiroi?"

"I have thermal eyes. He's still there. Wait. You'll see."

…

Minato fell on his butt, grimacing in pain. His was breathing in short gasps. "I can't move…anymore. My right arm is useless now. I'm not an Uzumaki or a Senju in the first place. I'm no more, Sensei." He glanced at Hashirama and saw how grim his face was. "Sensei?"

…

Onoki began to clap his hands with pride and admiration. "You're lucky to have him, Tsunade, very lucky indeed. Naruto-kun is on another level now."

"I thought that Bee was the strongest Jinchuuriki that had ever lived," A said. "I guess I was wrong."

…

The dust settled and a shocking sight greeted the spectators. Minato's chakra cannonball had left a huge crater. Compared to the crater that the Ultimate Rasengan had created, this one was ten times as big and ten times as deep. And there was this man on the surfboard, a man so fearsome in appearance that his sight brought forth goosebumps.

Naruto stood tall and proud, looking down at Hashirama and Minato. His hair had grown up to his waist. There were red streaks that surrounded his eyes which extended across his temples and onto his hair, creating red branch-like highlights on the sides. It gave him the semblance of the Kyubi. Red wedge-like marks decorated his naked torso. The three whiskers on each of his cheek had become prominent. His ears tapered into a point and the tip of his fangs showed out from his upper lip. His sclera had gone black and his irises red. His skin had acquired a darker complexion.

"Sensei?" Minato repeated. When Hashirama did not respond, he turned his attention on Naruto. His jaws involuntarily slackened. "Is that…is that Naruto?"

"Take a rest, Minato. I'll hold him back as long as I can, but…"

"Sensei?"

"He's coming. My trees will share their life energy with you. Recover as much as you can."

Trees grew out and their branches wound around Minato's torso. The trees took him into the forest and completely covered him, like Tobirama.

"Wait, Sensei!"

Hashirama ignored Minato's voice and stared at Naruto.

Naruto vanished. Consecutive explosions, like a series of bombs being dropped from the sky, dotted the side of the huge crater. Naruto was still invisible but the explosions told of his presence. Hashirama lowered his stance, his eyes alert for every wavering of light in air. Naruto was too fast that even Hashirama's trained eyes could not catch his movements. When the explosions got closer, Hashirama made trees to obstruct Naruto. But however fast his trees were, they could not touch anything. Finally Naruto was in front of him. Naruto's scream accompanied his right fist as he bombarded Hashirama with it. Three powerful punches landed on Hashirama's arms as the latter tried his hardest to block the attack. Hashirama grimaced at the pain the punches inflicted. If he was not using his Senkiken's incremental flicks, he would have already been pulverized. At the third punch, Hashirama's arms flew back and his balance tipped. Naruto used the opportunity to land a vicious kick into Hashirama's torso. Hashirama's feet left the ground.

Naruto screamed as he chased after Hashirama's flying body. He was above the Shodai Hokage in no time.

"I'll not make it easy for you, Naruto."

Dust and rocks rose up from the ground as another explosion ensued.

…

Hashirama held the stump of his left arm. The part from his mid-upper arm down was gone. Though he had already cauterized it with his chakra, blood still dripped from the wound. He looked at the body trapped inside a giant composite tree he had summoned from the ground.

Naruto freed his right arm from the branches and created a purple Rasengan. He threw it at the foot of the composite tree. The woven trunks exploded, liberating Naruto. As he was falling, his feet touched one of the destroyed branches and used it as foothold to jump into the sky.

Naruto plummeted from above. Hashirama dodged and countered with his remaining arm. Naruto tried to grab that arm, but his hand passed through it. Hashirama's fist went on unhindered and hit Naruto in the face. Successful in disorienting Naruto, Hashirama was able to follow up with a series of punches and elbows. He finished the combination with a big kick into Naruto's head. The force of the kick sent Naruto flying. While Naruto was up in the air, Hashirama did hand seals using his remaining hand. "Wood Release: Logs of Armageddon!" Twenty massive, flat-tipped logs grew out from the ground behind Hashirama. The group rose three times the height of the highest tree in the forest and then curved down towards Naruto. Logs and earth collided and the sound of their clashing echoed through the forest.

…

"Did you see that? Naruto's arm passed through!" Hachiro said.

"As I said, my grandfather and granduncle were masters of time and dimensional techniques," Tsunade said. "It's not surprising that in this fight Grandfather would use one." She looked behind her shoulder. "How're the girls?"

"They're fine, Sensei," the medic said. "They just lost consciousness."

"That was Sasuke's former companion, right?" A said.

"Yes. She is a genius sensor. To lose consciousness after that burst of chakra from Naruto means only one thing: Naruto's chakra is beyond what she can take."

A looked at Karin for a long time. "Tch. The only thing I don't like about her is she's now affiliated with your village. Damn luck."

…

Hashirama fell on his knee. He was exhausted. He was heaving for air and taking it from his mouth. It was already difficult for him to keep his eyes open. But he struggled to keep awake. He looked up and waited for any movement amidst the logs.

A silhouette emerged from the cloud of smoke, making his way through the bundle of logs that Hashirama had sent. It was Naruto. Naruto was unscathed except for some bruises and scrapes that were now beginning to heal. He stared at Hashirama.

Naruto raised his hand and let it fall, like a general ordering an attack. Hashirama braced himself for the attack. He waited for it to come.

It was taking a long time. A frown dug itself into Hashirama's brows. What was happening? Was Naruto bluffing? He looked around, trying to sense any killing intent. He found none. And then he thought of looking up. There he saw a clone of Naruto on a surfboard, in the process of dropping a giant wind Rasengan down at him.

"Naruto's Ultimate Rasengan. His strongest wind technique." Clenching his teeth, he added, "No. I won't let it end this easily." He tried to move, but his legs would not listen to his urging. His body had reached its limit. His legs were already dead. Left with no other choice, he began creating seals.

The great ball was fast approaching. Like a typhoon, it created a strong gust of wind that swayed the trees.

"This is for the pride of the Senju. Forest God Art: Tree of Adam!"

An enormous tree with leaves possessing the appearance of the Konoha Emblem grew out from the ground. Its tip collided with the Ultimate Rasengan. The Rasengan shredded the tip of the tree into smithereens. The two techniques battled out for survival. The tree continued to grow and replace its shredded parts while the Rasengan continued to destroy. Hashirama was not giving up. He was not taking his eyes off the ongoing battle of resilience and tenacity of the two great ninjutsu.

Finding it as an opportunity to attack, Naruto started for Hashirama. However, something made him stop on his tracks. He let out a croak, but instead of sound, a glob of blood gushed out from his mouth. The glob splattered on the ground. He staggered back and fell down, one hand clutching at his heart. He moaned in pain. His right eye flickered and changed back to its normal appearance.

…

"Naruto!" Tsunade cried. "Naruto, please!"

A put a hand on her shoulder. "Stay where you are, Tsunade."

…

Karui was trembling. She wanted to shout his name, too, but her jaws were too numb to move. Her heart was breaking at the moment. Her admiration for Naruto was slowly being replaced by fear. _He's overdoing it!_ _If he doesn't stop now, he'll surely die._ _Naruto…_

_Bee-sensei, I admit. I was indeed prejudiced about him because he was Sasuke's friend. I was wrong. He's no ordinary human being. He's already shown and proved that to me. Look at him, Sensei. He could have easily escaped from the barrier but he chose to stay to protect us._

Omoi watched Karui suffer inside. He let a few moments pass before he said, "Forget about the bet. There's no point to it, now. I've known you for a long time and I know that you're a very honest person. I understand where you're coming from, anyway, about why you hate him so much."

Through quivering lips, she replied, "No. A bet is a bet. Let's finish this till the end. And let me make a correction. I _hated_ him. I don't know where I'll place him now, but I'm sure I don't hate him anymore. I…" she cleared her throat. "I like tough guys, you know that. And he's tough."

"You like cute guys, too, don't you?"

"I'm not kidding."

Omoi reconsidered and then said, "All right. I'm sorry."

…

Naruto sipped in air through his teeth. He struggled to stand up on his trembling legs. With enough concentration, he fixed his receding form. He needed to be in this mode for a little longer. He charged at Hashirama.

Hashirama's eyes widened upon seeing Naruto's approach. "Shit, I forgot about you."

Hashirama was helpless as Naruto's hand bored through his stomach. His eyes widened in surprise and disbelief. His Senkiken was only enough to prevent Naruto's hand from getting at his heart. _Naruto…you…_

Naruto pulled his hand out from Hashirama's stomach and leaped back. All Hashirama could do was to touch him with his bloodied hand. He knew the reason behind Naruto's retreat. There was already no need for Naruto to finish him directly. He looked up at the Ultimate Rasengan.

Now that the Tree of Adam had stopped from growing, nothing contested the Ultimate Rasengan anymore. It descended to the ground with the promise of wrecking havoc.

This Ultimate Rasengan was bigger by five times its earlier version awhile ago, so its devastation was five times more terrible. With the wind it carried, most of the trees in the forest were uprooted. Some even broke at their trunks. The world inside the barrier got a taste of a man-made typhoon.

And finally, Naruto saw where Tobirama and Hiruzen were hiding.

…

Hashirama was thrown more than four hundred meters away. He had lost his right leg and most of his skin, but he was determined to watch the fight until the end. If it was staying alive until then, he knew a lot of ways.

"Now, what will you do, Naruto?" he muttered. He was eying the stain of his blood on Naruto's shoulder.

…

Naruto gave in to the pain and let go of his Demon Fox Mode. His appearance turned back to normal. Clutching his heart and breathing hard, he looked up at Hiruzen. The Third was standing in front of the bulb Hashirama had covered Tobirama with. Hiruzen seemed to be waiting for him to attack. He knew that he could no longer fight the old man by himself. The strain caused about by his transformation into the Demon Fox Mode was too much for his current level to bear. He needed help and now was his chance to ask for it. His father was still recuperating, and he knew that if he waited a little longer, he would come to the point where he could not move anymore. He bit his thumb for a reverse summoning. He was planning to leave the barrier.

Nothing happened. He did it again but still nothing. What was happening? Why was it not working?

"You can't do any summoning anymore, Naruto," Hiruzen said. "Hashirama-sensei put a Summoner's Seal on you. Look at your shoulder."

Naruto did as told and saw a sealing circle on the place Hashirama had touched with his bloodied hand.

"I'm sorry it's turning out this way, but we had our orders. I hate to do this to you, Naruto," Hiruzen said.

Naruto grinned at the old man. "That's okay, Jiji. I'm not enjoying a bit of this, too."

"It's a shame that we cannot do a summoning technique ourselves. I'm better when I'm using Enma's Diamond Pole."

"Jiji, you sound as if you're consoling me."

Hiruzen smiled. "I want to keep your hope up, Naruto. Now let's see how you'll keep up with my own brand of Nin-senpou." He made hand seals. "Earth Release: Earth Dragon!" A dragon made of mud raised Hiruzen on its head and charged at Naruto. Hiruzen brought out two kunai from his belt, lowering his stance at the same time.

Naruto waited with mischief in his eyes.

"Oh, so you're preparing something, huh," Hiruzen said. "Let's see what it is."

"Sexy no Jutsu!"

Naruto transformed into a beautiful naked blonde with a disarmingly erotic pose. The girl Naruto said, "Iyaaa, Ojii-chan!"

The Third's eyes grew wide. Blood gushed out his nose and he fell down the head of the mud dragon. The mud dragon immediately disappeared.

…

Everyone outside the barrier had their eyes wide open. Tsunade was blushing furiously. She could not believe that Naruto would resort to something stupid like that in a serious fight and that her sensei would fall for it. She looked around. _Most _of the men had one hand covering their noses. They were muttering something like, "I would have fallen for that, too," "Naruto is too dangerous to fight against," "Sarutobi-sensei is still lucky even though he's already dead," and "That's one hell of a hot woman!" A vein throbbed murderously on Tsunade's temple. "Hachiro, what do you see?" Hachiro's voice came muffled, and when Tsunade turned to see why, she saw that the Hyuuga was also covering his nose. Blood was gushing out from his hand. Tsunade snapped, "WILL YOU STOP BEING MEN FOR ONCE!"

Hiruzen slowly stood up, wiping his nose with his arm. He said with so much conviction, "I was caught-off guard."

"Off-guard your ass, you perverted old man!" Tsunade yelled.

…

"That was a clever move, but we only succeeded in getting away from him. What are you planning to do?"

"We need to take out Tobirama-sensei first. That's the only way."

"I'm only a three-hit clone. I can't protect you for long."

"I know." Naruto clutched at his heart. "But we need to try. If only Yumiko were here…"

"I'll never forgive you if you say that you're regretting your decision now."

"Of course, not. It's just that…"

"Let's not waste time anymore. You're almost drained."

"Yes. I'm sorry." Naruto sighed.

"Let's do our best. I'll buy you as much time as possible."

"All right. Let's go!"

…

Hiruzen was about to track Naruto down with an Earth Release technique when Naruto showed up. Naruto was holding a kunai. Hiruzen tried to read Naruto's thoughts. By the look of it, Naruto was planning to brawl with him.

Hiruzen made hand seals. "Earth Release: Soaring Dragon! Let's see what's on your mind." A dragon made of mud rose up from the ground and attacked Naruto. Naruto charged towards Hiruzen, evading the dragon's head. Hiruzen manipulated the movement of the dragon with his right hand. He was keeping Naruto away from him. Naruto was persistently trying to get close to him, but the thing is Naruto was not using any _Ninjutsu._

Hiruzen raised his left arm. The mud dragon split in two. The dragons attacked Naruto in concert, pushing him back further. He could still skillfully dodge each of the dragon's attempts, but it was obvious that he was having difficulty.

"What's the matter, Naruto? Is that all you got?"

Naruto found a chance to throw a kunai at Hiruzen. One of the dragons blocked the kunai with its body. The kunai dug itself into the dragon, and then it exploded. The dragon was cut into two, its upper part falling with a crash on the ground.

"An exploding kunai. A basic technique," Hiruzen said. "But you forgot that you threw away your position." He made the remaining dragon attack Naruto. The dragon was successful. Naruto had not been able to dodge. But Hiruzen knew better. "A basic cloning technique? He's not even using a shadow clone." He frowned. "He's more concerned on prolonging the fight. Something is wrong." He paused to think, and then realized what was happening. He turned to look in the direction of the bulb where Tobirama was. Naruto was already close and still sneaking on.

"Don't forget about me!" Naruto's clone raised its kunai and plunged it down towards Hiruzen's throat. Hiruzen simply tapped the ground with his foot and thirteen spikes thrust out from it. The spikes impaled the clone, causing it to evaporate. Hiruzen started for Naruto without even looking back.

"Earth Release: Moving Land River!"

The ground beneath Naruto's feet became fluid mud. It flowed away from Tobirama. "Shit, Jiji has found out!" In desperation, he threw his kunai towards the bulb and detonated it. The explosion destroyed a part of the bulb. Tobirama's right side was now showing.

"Tch. Even age has affected my judgment," Hiruzen said. "Earth Release: Earth Fortress!" Large walls of earth grew around the bulb confining Tobirama. "An S-level clone. Very impressive, Naruto. I thought it was real. You got me there."

…

Naruto observed the situation. What could he do now? Hiruzen had barely used his chakra. In Ninjutsu, he was light years away from him. In tactics, he was little more than a child compared to him. In experience, he was two generations behind. How could he beat a Kage admired and feared at the same time by his counterparts? How could he, a seedling still, outgrow a hundred year old tree? How? Was Sasuke too strong now that he had to defeat these incredible people just to prove that he had a chance of winning?

Hiruzen had said, "A shinobi's worth is not measured by the number of techniques he or she knows. It's measured by the intensity of his will of fire." Did it really speak of truth?

Tobirama had said, "If you don't fight from the heart, you're certainly bound to lose." Was it a fact? Was it really going to be okay with just that? He was giving it his all, and now that he had almost nothing left, did fighting from the heart still have its merit?

Hashirama had said, "To conquer your enemies, first conquer your doubts." Could he apply it? Was it something to remember at times like this?

_Will of Fire._

_Fight from the heart._

_Conquer your doubts._

Did these words mean a thing?

Minato had said, "I believe in you, son."

Naruto inhaled and exhaled. _I still breathe._ He closed and opened his right hand. _I can still move._ He bent down and straightened up. _I can still stand._ He stared hard at Hiruzen. _I can still recognize._

_I still have my life._

Naruto clenched his fists.

Hiruzen had said, "Orochimaru had freed us from eternal captivity to test you…He wants to know how strong you are…"

He took a kunai from his belt and raised it at Hiruzen. "Ojii-chan, I'll win this."

Hiruzen smiled. "Come and try, Naruto. I'll be here waiting."

_To be continued…_


	61. Chapter 61

Chapter 61: Back to Sanmyaku

"S-sensei…" Hachiro swallowed hard. "Naruto…his chakra channels are swollen. His chakra circulatory system has been working so hard. That mode he has just used to defeat Hashirama-dono inflicted a damage equivalent to what you will get after opening all your Celestial Gates. I don't even want to imagine how much pain he is suffering right now. Half of his heart was destroyed earlier. If not for the Fox's chakra, he would have already been dead."

Tsunade endured the words without responding. From her clenched fist, blood began to drip.

"But how…how can he still stand up?" Temari asked.

"Courage," A said.

"And faith," Onoki said. "I've never seen a person with so much faith as this boy."

…

Naruto had many attempts to get near Hiruzen, but Hiruzen's techniques pushed him back. He put his remaining chakra into his speed and continued with his attack, but the cycle went on. The people outside the barrier stood frozen on their spot, staring dumbly at the fight. They did not know what to make of the emotions they were feeling as they watched the Third Hokage batter Naruto. He was helpless—almost pathetic—for he could not even use his signature Kage Bunshin technique to make progress. He was just being persistent. There was a time when Hiruzen successfully hit Naruto fully in the chest, and Naruto's expression was painful to see. Naruto rolled on the ground and stayed lying for almost a minute.

The audience had mixed sentiments. Most of them cheered Naruto on, encouraging him to stand up, but there was also a group that was urging him to give up. Of course, they were not thinking clearly. They were only worried for Naruto. They overlooked the fact that he would still be killed if he gave up on the fight.

Karui almost blurted out "no" when Naruto began to push himself up. But she knew that Naruto had no choice. It was a do or die situation.

"If you keep that up, Naruto, I'll be forced to be on the offensive," Hiruzen said. Naruto just responded with a smile and then disappeared. "You have to show more if you want to defeat me."

Naruto weaved through Hiruzen's mud dragons and earthen spikes, his fire walls and fire missiles, and his rock projectiles and bombs. He did his best to reach Hiruzen, but the Third's ingenious combinations kept him away. Hiruzen kept at it, studying Naruto's reaction to his attacks. He was looking for peculiarities or ulterior motive behind Naruto's rally, but Naruto was not showing any. Hiruzen maintained his dynamic defense for a time until he was completely sure that Naruto was only being stubborn. A rock projectile hit Naruto and sent him flying. Like earlier, it took him a long time and the support of a fallen tree to stand up. He had reached his limit of rupture and he was dangerously walking on thin ice, desperately hanging on brittle thread. Anytime he could break.

"I can't bear to see you suffer anymore. It's time to finish this," Hiruzen said. He produced a metal pole from a summoning paper. He spun it over his head and prepared to attack.

Naruto charged up his chakra channels, biting hard on his teeth to suppress himself from screaming. He kicked the ground and dashed towards Hiruzen. This time Hiruzen did not wait. He initiated the clash with fire missiles. Naruto blocked the explosives with his chakra-covered arms, refusing to stop.

"I'll finish you with one hit," Hiruzen said. He raised his metal pole behind him. "Goodbye, Naruto."

"Yeah. Goodbye, Jiji," Naruto said.

Hiruzen's eyes widened upon witnessing the abrupt change in Naruto's appearance. Naruto shouldn't have been able to use the Fox's chakra anymore. His chakra circulatory system had swelled to the point of breaking. Automatically, during situations like this, the body's preservation mechanism would not allow the intrusion of foreign chakra. It was plain impossible for any man to breach that rule. _Except…except if…_

Naruto zoomed past him at incredible speed. He frantically called forth Rashomon gates to reinforce the fortress protecting Tobirama. The gates grew outside the earth walls.

As Naruto was accelerating towards the fortification of wood, earth, and iron, Minato broke free from his own wooden shell. He immediately realized what was happening. Hiruzen was trying his best to stop Naruto with high class offensive ninjutsu, but like what had happened to the Namikaze Cannon awhile ago, they could not injure Naruto in his Demon Fox Mode. Minato thought that Naruto had to be only forcing it. The fact that Hiruzen was still alive only meant that Naruto had saved this last burst of energy to take Tobirama down. The Demon Fox Mode would not last long. It could not. Minato had only enough chakra for Taijutsu. It was already impossible for him to use the Flying Thunder God. But with or without the Flying Thunder God, he was still the fastest shinobi who had ever lived. He began to sprint towards Naruto.

A blur of motion. Minato succeeded in catching up to Naruto. He cocked the kunai he held and thrust it forward. Hiruzen tried to bind Naruto. The kunai came. Naruto reached out and touched the nearest Rashomon gate.

He said, "Fuujin no Jutsu: Eien no Chinmoku." This was the technique designed to instantly rob anyone of his or her consciousness. The Eternal Silence.

…

Things happened too fast. Minato and Hiruzen's eyes were staring in disbelief.

Tsunade, Mei Terumi, and Shiroi were around Hiruzen. A, Onoki, and Gaara were in front of Minato. Behind them were shinobi of the six hidden villages of Fire, Earth, Lightning, Wind, Water, and Snow, blocking the two Hokage's path to Naruto. They had been waiting for the chance to attack. Unconsciously, Naruto had been able to communicate to them what was on his mind. _I'll take out Tobirama-sensei. Please take care of the rest._ Naruto trusted these people and these people trusted him back. A phenomenon had just taken place. All that believed in Naruto had become one with him. And without the redundancy of words, he had sent them his feelings.

Minato and Hiruzen dropped their weapons.

Minato said, "He might not have completely conquered the Fox yet, but one thing is for sure. He will be a great Hokage someday."

"He defeated us," Hiruzen said. "He has mastered the true meaning of faith. Orochimaru will be satisfied with this result."

"But technically, Naruto lost, right?" Hachiro said.

"He won splendidly, child," Hiruzen said. "You being at arm's length from me is proof enough."

"I don't understand."

Hiruzen laughed. "Naruto has what it takes to defeat Sasuke."

"Would you care explaining it more clearly?"

"Our mission is accomplished," Minato said. "It's time for us to leave."

Minato let himself fall. Upon hitting the ground, he puffed into dust.

"I'm happy about your unity, village leaders," Hiruzen said. "Please maintain this peace amongst yourselves. Goodbye." He puffed into dust as well.

"I'll borrow your pretty kunoichi for awhile, Raikage," Hashirama said.

A turned to him. "Kunoichi?" He looked around and his eyes fell upon the bodies huddled over Naruto. Hashirama was talking about Karui. Earlier, when the barrier disappeared, Karui had been the fastest to get to Naruto. She had immediately taken him away from danger. At the moment, she was helping Karin with Naruto's first aid.

"I don't mean to disparage your capabilities, but Naruto-kun's damage can only be healed by someone with mastery over a Jinchuuriki's chakra circulatory system," Hashirama said. "I know one who can take care of him. I need your kunoichi to protect him."

"All right," A said. He looked at Karui. "All right with you?" Karui nodded. "Then I give my permission, Shodai-dono."

It was too late for Temari and Hinata to realize what was the two Kages had been conversing about. When they shifted their attention in Naruto's direction, they found out that Naruto, Karin, and Karui were gone. They turned back to ask what was happening, but by then, the trees, the earth walls, and Hashirama had already vanished.

…

Karin, Karui, and Naruto materialized from the teleporting circle that Hashirama had drawn on the soil. With him was Hitatsu Reiko, his blond medical ninja.

Karui pulled her sword from her back, suspicion in her eyes. She would not hand Naruto over that easily. "Swear to me that you're not being controlled by that freak Orochimaru."

Usually Hashirama would tease a girl with a beauty of Karui's caliber, but his face was grim this time. "I'm not."

"You can assess his chakra, right?" Karui asked Karin.

Karin said, "He's not lying."

"I'll kill you if you harm him." Karui did not sheath her sword.

"That's why I brought you along," Hashirama said. He picked Naruto up the ground. "We cannot waste time here. Let's go."

The tent was situated on a clearing at the mountainside. No one was there but two cold-looking ninjas. Hashirama took Naruto inside, laying him on a bed. Reiko immediately did what she had to do: attach the oxygen mask and the dextrose, check him up for external and internal injuries, get his vitals. Hashirama, Karin, and Karui just watched from the side.

"I was giving him my chakra, but he was still not waking up," Karin said. "He should've woken up, already. I have that ability. Why did he not wake up?"

"His chakra circulatory system has been fatally damaged," Hashirama said. "You could have drained yourself for nothing."

"You promised that you would take care of him," Karui said. "Do that and I'll be your ally. If you don't…"

"No need for threats, girl. Reiko is a better weaver of chakra channels than the best Hyuuga weaver in the world. We'll fix him back as new."

Reiko glanced at Hashirama, and he knew what that meant. He ushered the two girls out the tent.

"Wait," Reiko said. "The girl with the glasses, I need your assistance."

Hashirama nodded at Karin. "Do your best. Meanwhile, I'll take this pretty companion of yours for a stroll."

Karui raised the tip of her sword to Hashirama's throat. "Don't even think about it."

…

It was dusk when Hashirama entered inside the tent again. He went in silently. Reiko was sitting beside Naruto's bed. Karin was sleeping in the bed behind the blond kunoichi.

"How is he?" he asked.

Reiko looked up. Anxiety was visible on her face.

"That's unusual of you, looking like that."

"He might not last too long," Reiko said. "I'm worried for him."

"Don't be playing pranks on me, Reiko."

"He would not be this lucky the next time he damaged his chakra channels this bad. His telomeres are almost done for because of excessive regeneration and destruction of his cells. He should not use again that technique that has gotten him in this condition. He'll surely die from its after-effect."

"Time will tell us about that."

Reiko glared at Hashirama. "My Demon Eyes don't make mistakes. I saw his DNA. I saw the condition of his cells. Hashirama-sensei, please tell him to seal that technique."

"I can't do that. He has the freedom to choose his path."

"That's because he doesn't know the danger he's into!"

"That's where you're wrong. He knows all about it, Reiko. When my original self was fighting him, he was reluctant to resort to it because of the pain it inflicts. He knew he might die or be conquered by the Fox."

"Then why did he do it?"

"Jinchuurikis are born alone not because they are naturally dangerous. They are born alone because they have the tendency to do crazy things for their love ones." He paused and looked hard at Reiko. "My words will not reach him. Not yet."

"Sensei, I don't want him to die."

"We'll all die anyway. It's just a matter of who stays longer. We're equal on that aspect."

"Sensei, I'm not arguing with you on this. I'm asking you a favor."

"I might reconsider if you went to bed with me."

"Okay. If that's what you want."

Hashirama sighed. "I can't. You do it. He'll not listen to me, I'm telling you."

"But Sensei…"

"Reiko!" Hashirama closed his eyes, willing himself to calm down. "You know, sometimes I don't like this emotional side of you." After that he sighed. "All right. Since I don't want to waste this rare event of seeing your true self, I'll try to do something."

Reiko smiled and Hashirama thought it was too much a payment for that small favor wherein he was sure that Naruto would not listen.

"Why are you willing to go as far as going to bed with me?" he asked.

"He's become to important for me to lose."

"Ah, Naruto! How many fishes do you want from the sea?" he said while pretending to be dismayed.

…

Back in Konoha, a little commotion was happening inside Tsunade's office.

"What's going on, Sensei?" Temari asked. "We were supposed to go with him! Why did we get left behind? It doesn't make sense!"

"Temari…"

"Shut up, Gaara!"

"Temari, lower your voice," Kankuro said.

"You really do love Naruto, don't you?" Tsunade said.

"Don't answer me with a question!"

"There's a way to get to where he is, but I won't tell you how. Now that we've confirmed Orochimaru's demise and Madara's disappearance, it's time for us to act. Pakkun, Kakashi's summon, has been researching the archives of the Village of Dogs. He found out that Madara had created two powerful groups namely Akatsuki and Swallow. The Right Wing is working for a dictator in the west, while the Left Wing is in Sanmyaku right now. The Head and the Tail of Swallow are a group of researchers and mercenaries, but they are not designed for combat like the Wings. Our job is first to neutralize these two groups. And to accomplish this quickly, we need as many strong shinobi as possible. We need you here, Temari."

"Pakkun will have finished his investigation a week from now," Kakashi said. "The most important thing to do at the moment is to coordinate with the other hidden villages. It's time for us to play an active part against Madara."

"It's still unfair," Temari muttered. "I don't like waiting for him. And the worst, an unknown bitch has gotten my spot."

"Hinata is taking it fairly well," Tsunade said. Hinata glared at her. A bead of sweat rolled down from her temple. "Right, Hinata?"

"Yes, Sensei," Hinata muttered, averting her eyes.

…

The captain of the ship had observed her beautiful princess for the past days. Sagai Yori in her elegant white military attire stood at the third window of the bridge. He had never seen her smile since she received the news that Uzumaki Naruto had defected from Lotus's group.

"Tea, Princess?" the Captain asked.

"No, thank you, Captain," Yori said. "How many days remain till we reach Ajit?"

"Three days more, Princess."

"Do you think he's there?"

"I'm not sure. There's a big possibility. If he has left Lotus-sama, he would not use the same route as him. Lotus-sama must have entered Kogiwara by way of Gotoka. The best route for Uzumaki-dono is by way of Hashaboro and Ajit."

"I hope you're right."

"Let's just hope for the best, Princess."

Yori nodded. "Excuse me, Captain. Call for me if something comes up. I'll be in my room."

"As you command, Princess." As he watched Yori walk away, he thought, _I pray that you see him soon, Princess. I don't like seeing you this way._

…

Hashirama kept Naruto's arrival a secret from his team until he woke up. He would visit the tent every morning to see how he was. Reiko attended to him full time. Because of the Fox's chakra and Karin's healing ability, his recovery was quick. After three days, Naruto woke up. He was surprised to see Reiko beside her.

"Reiko-san? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

Reiko's emotionless face brightened. "I'm your nurse. I've been taking care of you the last three days."

"What? You came here just to do that?"

Reiko chuckled. "No. Hashirama-sensei brought you here via a teleportation technique."

"Here is Sanmyaku. Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes, cutie pie. You're back with us."

"Naruto! Naruto, are you awake?" a voice came from the other side of the dividing curtain.

"Karin?"

Karin got up from her bed and ran to Naruto. She threw herself at him, hugging him tightly. "I'm so happy! Thank you, thank you!"

"Karin-san, please stop. You're suffocating him," Reiko said.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Karin let up, but she did not let go. She inspected Naruto's face. "Yup, as gorgeous as ever. Thank God, nothing hit your face."

"Karin, your breasts…" Naruto said.

Karin grinned. "A little reward for a job well done."

"Tch. So this occupies you just after you woke up," Karui said from the entrance. "Pervert."

Naruto's eyes widened in recognition. "You're…you're that…" He remembered the day when the girl had beaten him up because he refused to sell Sasuke to her. "Monster!"

A vein throbbed on Karui's temple. "What? After all I've done for you!"

"Karin, why is she here? Hey, whatever you do, I'm not taking my words back."

"My name is Karui, and I'm not here for Sasuke. I'm here for…" she blushed, "for you."

"I don't remember—"

"A lot happened, okay. Remember that Shodai Hokage you fought against? He brought me along with Karin-san."

"I'm surprised you agreed."

Karui blushed even more. "I don't have a choice. He was losing his consciousness. It just so happened that I was close to you."

Karin finally let go of Naruto. "We can talk while having breakfast."

"I-I cooked us some," Karui said. "How many sugars do you put in your cup?"

"Two. I like it sweet," Karin said. When Karui did not respond, she realized who she was asking this question to. "Oh, sorry."

"Naruto-chan, she's waiting…" Reiko said.

"Oh, it was me?" Naruto asked. "I'm sorry. One sugar, please."

Karui nodded and went out the tent.

Karin playfully punched Naruto's cheek. "You playboy!"

"Huh?"

Karin and Reiko exchanged glances and then laughed.

…

At the breakfast table, Reiko told them everything they'd been doing in the past weeks. Karin, Karui, and Naruto listened intently to her. She said that they were planning to meet up at Kakari together with the archers of the Sumiragi Clan. It was what had been written in the scroll that Zuko had delivered. Kakari, according to her, was where Hashirama thought that the Alliance was hiding. She also added that Horan had already been conquered by Nue and in skirmishes Kogiwara had a losing streak.

"Then that's good!" Naruto said. "We will win this war in no time."

"It's not as good as it looks. After the first attack by a member of the Left Wing, there hasn't been any participation of that renegade group anymore. They seem to have just vanished."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm afraid Kogiwara is studying Nue's actions from behind. She engages Nue in losing battles to assess her capability."

"Besides, that sudden retreat of Kogiwara's prime force is a bit suspicious," Karui said. "It may be connected with Madara's disappearance from the east."

"Naruto-chan, I must inform you that Shitto the Jester is still alive," Reiko said.

"What?"

"Who is this jester?" Karin asked.

"He's one of the Left Wing, a Sennin. He's a very powerful puppeteer who manipulates the dead. Naruto-chan saved me from him. It was also the first time he showed us his manhood."

"Manhood?" Karin and Karui blurted out.

"Manliness, I mean." She put her forefinger on her chin and looked up. "But I do remember a scene where…"

"I just remembered that I should be going back to my team in Hashaboro," Naruto said.

"Don't go changing the subject with a straight face!" the two girls said.

Reiko laughed at this. She winked at Naruto. "Hashirama-sensei will be coming. Let's wait for him."

_To be continued…_


	62. Chapter 62

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. Naruto was created by the Japanese Mangaka Kishimoto Masashi.

**OC Guide:** Here are some key points about the characters that I created for this fiction.

**Tsuneo's Circle**

**Akabari Midori**-she is the Crown Queen to the throne of Kogiwara which had been unlawfully taken from her father Akabari Musashi. She is a lancer and has elevated her level into a Master Lancer after she trained inside the tomb of Luka, a legendary female warrior of the Shibari Clan. Luka has reincarnated into a white fox that always accompanies her wherever she goes. She holds Naruto in high regard, and she has once admitted that she likes him.

**Akabari Hiromi**-she is Midori's little sister. She likes to sing and is very adept in melodies, harmonies, and rhythms that she could easily compose a song off the bat. She possesses high intelligence and can reason better than Midori in certain situations, making her Midori's regulator at times. She is fond of Naruto and makes much of him whenever he's around.

**Shibari Tsuneo**-he is a ninja from Ishigakure hired by the former king of Kogiwara Akabari Musashi and his queen Sayuri Matsumoto to protect the heiresses of the throne against Kagitora, the current king of Kogiwara. He has an unsettled conflict with Kinjo, Naruto's summoning wolf. He and his apprentice Matsuda Saki have posed as Midori and Hiromi's parents for seventeen years.

**Matsuda Saki**-she is a kunoichi from Ishigakure, apprentice to Shibari Tsuneo. She is a dedicated mother to Midori and Hiromi and will lay her life on the line to protect them. She is harboring a deep feeling of infatuation towards Naruto which had started at the time when he helped her defeat the summoning wolf, Cujo.

**Suigin Setsuko**-a girl raised by Kinjo, Naruto's summoning wolf. She is a survivor of a tragedy known as the Suigin Massacre. She has the Iron Kekkai Genkai and has become a Wolf Sage through Kinjo's tutelage. At first she did not approve of Naruto and looked down on him, but as he repeatedly proved his strength, she learned to like him. This intense feeling developed when Zuko assigned her to feed Naruto with pills inside the Holy Cave. Since the Holy Cave pulls from a person the truth about his or her being, Setsuko found herself desiring Naruto inside the cave. It progressed until she was feeding Naruto with her mouth, sharing a deep kiss with him. And this happened everyday. She could not control her feelings anymore and her infatuation plummeted even deeper. Now she is in love with Naruto, still defiant but in love.

**Shibari Hibarashi**-a powerful landlord in Tanimori. He has his own army and some of the veterans of the Great War are working for him. His name is even honored by the Queen of Nue herself. He's one of the oldest people in the world, having his current age at a hundred and twenty-two. He is blind, but he can see well using his chakra.

**Mason **-he's Hibarashi's head of security. He's a _huge_ man and very skilled in swords and spears.

**Atsuko**-Hibarashi's personal secretary.

**Akabari Musashi**-the legal ruler of Kogiwara and Midori and Hiromi's true father. He created the Alliance with the plan of retrieving the crown for Midori.

**Matsumoto Sayuri**-she's Musashi's wife and Midori and Hiromi's true mother.

**Hashirama's Circle**

**Zuko**-he is a monk and a Sennin. He's tall and bald and is always seen with a wooden bead rosary around his neck and his monk's staff. He was the one Hashirama had sent to test Naruto. Eventually, he became Naruto's teacher although they did not finish the course because of an event that necessitated Naruto to be in the Village of Dogs. He is the creator of the Force Fabric science and techniques that got him the title Sennin. Hashirama doesn't trust him yet and deliberately and indirectly told him this by lying about Akito's gender, pertaining to her as a boy when he was giving out the message scrolls.

**Hitatsu Reiko**-she's tall, blonde, and beautiful, but with a countenance of stone. She usually hides her emotions except from Hashirama and, strangely, from Naruto. She is Hashirama's best medical-nin—regarded by him as the best chakra weaver in the world. She has the Red Eyes of the Demon that could see through anything, enabling her to conduct very complex operations, such us reconnecting severed nerves of an amputated arm to its stump. Naruto has once saved her when Shitto the Jester abducted her. Naruto's kindness and the way he valued her shattered her defenses and she could not keep her true self from him anymore. She gave him a swift kiss, her very first, as a gift of her gratitude.

**Uchiha Chiasa**-she is from the Ancient Uchiha Clan, a clan which possesses the four-pupiled Sharingan. She's very skilled in Mythical Beasts Summoning and knows techniques for instant death. Considered as boy magnet in Morigakure, Chiasa had her share of ogles and indecent proposals from men. It's the reason she hated and distrusted them. But this disposition was shattered when she met Naruto and experienced a rare kindness and decency from a man. She and Naruto took each other's virginity and this changed a lot in their relationship. She became a spy for the Left Wing, when Kalua, Left Wing's Absolute Illusion, cast a Genjutsu on her, making her believe that she had a sister that the Left Wing held hostage. Naruto saved both her and Kalua from this situation. Now she is affiliated to Konoha after he took her to the hidden village. She swore that she would not serve any other man besides Naruto.

**Kamakiri Akito**-an extremely beautiful girl with blue-tinged, white hair. She is from the Kamakiri Clan which has the Blizzard Kekkai Genkai. She's considered one of the strongest among Hashirama's shinobi and is much trusted by the Arashikage that he elected her Deputy Commander.

**Hamanabi Enka**-she is a cheerful young girl with short green hair. She is Hashirama's Second Medical Division Commander. She specializes in herbs and flora-oriented techniques. She has a large pet gorilla named Ikki.

**Hoshikagi Shakiri**-a tall, shark-woman who specializes in water techniques. She's Hashirama's Siege Division Commander. A sword twice the length of ordinary sword is tied on her back.

**Gamara**-a tall, muscular warrior with a large horse-cutter sword as weapon. He is loud and optimistic. He's Hashirama's Frontal Assault Team Leader.

**Honsho Sensui**-a lean, handsome man with the Hands of Destruction—anything he touches and wills to disintegrate will disintegrate. He has a naturally emotionless face, but unlike Reiko, even Hashirama hasn't seen him relax before. He's Hashirama's Reconnaissance Team Leader.

**Brass**-is an unnatural being that lives beneath the earth. He sleeps, travels, and eats in the earth. He has wiry hair, two pairs of smaller limbs protruding from his chest and abdomen, and mole like eyes. He is a monster, but he's very loyal to Hashirama. He only shows himself when Hashirama calls or is in danger.

**The Left Wing**

This list is yet to be completed, as I chose to keep some of them secret from you for the mean time.

**Jocho Shizumaru**-he's a Sennin and the last of the line of the Divine Sculptors, the Jocho Clan. He is the one behind the creation of the fake Naruto which fallacy no one, even Hyuuga Aika and Kiba's dog Akamaru, was able to detect. He has the Kekkai Genkai Kuogan, the ultimate eyes for details. He's Left Wing's Absolute Art.

**Shitto**-a.k.a. the Jester. He is a Sennin whose expertise is the manipulation of the dead, but he can also control living people like what he did to Kaguya and Reiko. He's powerful enough to control more than a thousand corpses at a time and confident enough of his strength that he seemed playing with Naruto the first time he fought the boy. He fared well against Naruto's Shihai version of Demon Fox Mode even though he was only using his clone that had seventy percent of his chakra. He and Tsuneo have a history, and every time they see each other, Shitto says things that are mysterious to outsiders but completely comprehensible between them. He has a double personality and can be insanely evil if he chooses to. He's Left Wing's Absolute Army.

**Aruga**-a.k.a. the Ship Destroyer. He's a Sennin and specializes in manipulating gravity. A large muscular man with cold eyes, he brought fear to his first victims when he singlehandedly destroyed a fleet of thirty six floating ships, killing with it more or less four thousand men. He's Left Wing's Absolute Internal Disturbance.

**Kalua**-she was a member of the Left Wing until Naruto saved her and convinced her to leave the group. She has Sennin-level Genjutsu, but she's not a Sennin yet. She is unique in appearance for despite the perfect lines and curves of her physicality, she had dragon skin and eyes. Albeit, she's considered a stunning woman. Her loyalty lies now on Naruto. Lies deeply through and through. She was the one who cast Chiasa the Genjutsu that made the latter think that she had a sister and the Left Wing was holding her hostage, making her unable to refuse their condition for her illusory sister's freedom.

**The Taka Kingdom and Sumiragi Clan**

**Sagai Yori**-she is the heiress to the throne of the Kingdom of Taka. Originally, she has the appearance of a bishonen, a pretty boy, but after she found her _destined one_, she unsealed her pod and took on her true appearance, that of a woman. Defeated by Naruto in a fight, she answered Hashirama's request for a swordsman by marrying him, a political marriage by nature and could be undone any time necessary but for her a binding contract to eternity. She strongly believes that Naruto is her fated one. She fights with two swords and has a red and white amplifier she calls Auria.

**Sagai Haruo**-is the current King of Taka. He was a former student of Hashirama. He is so loyal to the Shodai Hokage that he obliged his daughter to marry Naruto so that he could answer Hashirama's request for a swordsman.

**Tamiko and Mika**-they are the younger daughters of King Haruo whom Naruto had saved from the Queen of Serpents. Mika is the baby princess that hates men, except Naruto and her father. Tamiko has pointed this out to Naruto.

**Jin**-Taka's strongest swordsman who is currently in Ine, strengthening the defenses of the neutral country.

**Tsubasakage**-the leader of Hanegakure, Hidden Village of Feathers, which is situated in Taka.

**Takeshi**-the Tsubasakage's stupid son who woke the Queen of Serpents from her deep slumber.

**Yukio Kanade**-the Chuunin who led the team that the Tsubasakage sent to Konoha to hire medical ninjas. He took Shikamaru's team to Sanmyaku via a wormhole.

**Sumiragi Kaguya**-the 67th heiress of the Sumiragi Clan, the clan of Master Archers. Shitto had made her a puppet when she dumbly tried to kill him. Naruto saved her from Shitto, and because of this she had developed a crush on him. She promised Naruto that she would serve him her entire life.

**Sumiragi Kushiro**-was the former Lord of the Sumiragi Clan and is Kaguya's father. Shitto killed him when he refused to sell Akabari Musashi's Alliance to him.

**Lady Eriko**-Kaguya's mother. Unable to bear the loss of her husband, she became sick from loneliness and died a few months later.

**Lady Yoshie and Lord Hiroshi**-the keepers of the Sumiragi Estate and the ones who welcomed Kaguya and Shikamaru's team when they arrived from Tanimori.

**Summoning Beasts**

**Kinjo**-he is a white wolf and is placed in high regard in the Village of Dogs. Naruto saved him from a twenty-six year long confinement in the world of men by making him his summoning beast. He got a wife named Haruki and seven puppies.

**Bakuryu and Cujo**-two summoning wolves that help Kinjo. As Kinjo, they were saved by Naruto by making them his summoning beasts.

**Baba**-the co-founder of the Village of Dogs. She was the one who helped Naruto when he was undergoing training in Hensen no Kuusho. She took him in the Holy Cave to protect his body from earthly elements while he was unconscious. She's a spirit in a pod, like Kushina, and the wish that bound her to the realm of the living is to tell Kiri how she has loved him all this time.

**Kiri**-the founder of the Village of Dogs and is the guardian spirit of the world. He maintains peace and order between the Wolf District and the Capital Region.

**Sabra**-is Baba's large husky.

**Elder**-is the leader of the Wolf District.

**Paku**-is Pakkun's younger brother and is currently the main summon dog of Kakashi. Pakkun was given the task to research the archives of the Village of Dogs so he cannot appear when summoned. Paku's wife is a bulldog named Ika.

**Akira**-a.k.a. the Samurai frog. He is a red frog that is very good in katana. He's a legend on his own in Myobukuzan. He's Naruto's summoning frog.

**Uzume**-the Queen of Serpents. A behemoth in power and destructiveness, she is considered a sign of tragedy in Sanmyaku, and whoever defeats her becomes a Savior. Naruto is the Second Savior of Sanmyaku after he conquered her with his will alone. Her scales have the capability to negate any attack made of chakra and are tough enough to resist unbelievable amount of temperature. She's now Naruto's strongest summoning beast.

**Kogiwara and Nue**

**Kagitora**-is the current king of Kogiwara. He is Akabari Musashi's cousin, a conservative, and the master mind behind the coup d'état seventeen years ago. He doesn't approve of a girl holding the highest power in Kogiwara, and since Musashi decided to give his crown to his eldest Midori, he felt that he was not left with another choice. He tried to kill the baby Midori but failed.

**Zhang Li**-Kogiwara's current Minister of War.

**Dai**-the Chief of Internal Affairs in the Monarchy of Nue. He was the one who reported the oddly large number of immigrants from Kogiwara that entered Nue. This ignited the last fuse of the Queen and began the countdown to war.

I'll keep the identity of the Queen of Nue for now.

**The Great Beings**

**Yumiko the Crimson Queen**-is the great being of the Nine-tails. She is a powerful queen that snatched the throne from a corrupt emperor. Witnessing her parents' rape and the betrayal of her people, she harbored a hatred so deep that consumed her. She came to be known as the most brutal ruler of her era, and she was feared even by other powerful rulers. Being a Biju, she did not care about her container. She would try to take over her container's mind if given a chance. But all of this stopped when Naruto showed him a new side of life. She fell in love with him and was so hurt when Naruto and Chiasa made love. She has the gift of a goddess beauty and was famous for it even in faraway lands. After Naruto chose the second form of Yuujo, she was freed from the Hakke Fuin seal and revived as she was when she died.

**Amaya the Iron Forger**-is the great being of the Four-tails and was the legendary ironsmith who had created the Rashomon or the Hell Gate, which was now considered the strongest direct defense against Class-S techniques. She was reputed to have travelled all the beasts' worlds and forged for the kings monumental structures that were yet to be surpassed in strength and design. She had built Monkey King Enka's fortress that Hiruzen had summoned to defend himself against Naruto's kamikaze back in Hensen no Kuusho. Because of her creations, people called her the Iron Forger.

**Toshiko the Stealth Death**-is the great being of the Five-tails and is an olive-skinned girl who had been the fiercest assassin the East had ever known. She helped to overthrow a long running dynasty in the Middle East that enslaved millions of families by killing every single member of its clan. She wrote the book "The Art of Assassination" that black-ops and ANBUs used as their primary guide for covert operations and tactics. Despite Kirigakure's claim that it had originated from them, Zabuza's Kirigakure no Jutsu or the Hidden Mist Technique had been created by Toshiko. This technique, being a water element release, made a sensation in the Middle East which prompted shinobi art authorities to give her the moniker Stealth Death.

**Akane the Healer**-is the great being of the Seven-tails and the only girl that could match Yumiko in feminine charm. Her name became known in the world when she healed the Emperor of Sanuchin who had an incurable disease. Without her, the Sage of Six Paths would not have been able to tear the Jubi into nine separate and weaker entities. Since the Jubi was immortal, the Sage of Six Paths needed to match it with immortality and he did this by using Akane's ability of inducing cell regeneration at incredible speed with a single command. Nobody knew how she did this even the Sage of Six Paths, so historians alluded to her as being a goddess in human form.

**Konoha**

**Hyuuga Aika**-is a bubbly thirteen year old that came from the lines of Hyuuga Hybrids. She's a prodigy that specializes in Byakugan techniques and the manipulation of Celestial Gates. A Jyuuken Grandmaster at a young age, she is very proud of her strength, but Naruto defeated her. Hinata told her about Naruto's good points and because of this she fell in love with him. She is unabashed in showing this love even in public. She can kiss Naruto on the lips without reserve and has taken the most advantage of him compared to her rivals. She is very dedicated to him to the extent that she had written him down on Hyuuga's Official Journal as her future husband. She can read the Chakra Signature of a person.

**Inuzuka Momoko**-considered as one of the most beautiful women in the Fire country, this black beauty has everything that a man will drool for. She has smooth skin the color of chocolate, a nice body that doesn't get fat and impeccably symmetrical features that artists covet. She's also a genius Taijutsuist, gifted with endurance-strength pink muscles that go well with one's chakra. Being raised mostly by men, she's tomboyish and crude. A long time ago, she was a lazy one, being able to do everything easily. Naruto taught her about hard work by defeating her continuously. She became obsessed with him and eventually fell in love with him.

**Inuzuka Katsuo**-the gentle giant. He is an Inuzuka Monk and is conspicuous in a crowd because of the tattoo of ancient Inuzuka writings on his bald head. He can use the Sacred Wolf Mode and the powerful Lion's Roar. Children and small animals love him, and he can speak with wolves.

**Zhao Xing Li**-this small man is Tenten's grandfather and her master. He is respected in the East as one of the best Taijutsuist who has ever lived.

**Kages**

**Yukikage**-her name is Shiroi and is a good friend of Tsunade and Naruto. She is clad in white robe with the character for "Snow" on her hat painted in blue. She has a pretty pair of gray eyes, skin as white as the element she represented, and manners as soft as a feather.

**Tetsukage**-the leader of the Hagakure, the Hidden Village of Blades, wears an expensive black robe sewn with intricate spade patterns around the hems, the character for "Iron" painted in white on his black hat. He is a man in his sixties possessing a frightening pair of black eyeballs with irises of metal gray, a forged steel mask covering his face in the typical assassin-type design.

**Kalulan Tribe and People from the Past**

**Agila**-is the Chief of the Kalulan Tribe.

**Talim**-is Agila's son and the leader of the Kalulan Warriors. He fought with Naruto because of the Genjutsu that Kalua had cast on his tribe. He is a strong warrior that uses the Diamond Armor.

**Maya**-is Talim's wife.

**Uzumaki Tamotsu**-was Mito's grandfather and the expert medical researcher that brought Hashirama back to life.

**Senju Che**-was Hashirama's cousin and first love. Hashirama had given her the charka prism that had contained his chakra for safekeeping. In the end, she could not keep her promise and left the prism to Tamotsu.

**Uzukage**-the leader of the Uzumaki Clan in Mito's time.

**Amaterasu**-was the first owner of the Saiga Sharingan. Considered as a myth, even by Uchiha Madara.

**List of Canon Characters in the Story**

I hope this list is complete.

**Naruto's Team**

Uzumaki Naruto

Uzumaki Kushina

Hyuuga Neji

Rock Lee

Tenten

Karin

Karui

**Shikamaru's Team**

Nara Shikamaru

Aburame Shino

Haruno Sakura

Yamanaka Ino

**Kages**

Senju Hashirama

Tsunade the Hokage

Mei Terumi the Mizukage

A the Raikage

Onoki the Tsuchikage

Gaara the Kazekage

Senju Tobirama (deceased)

Sarutobi Hiruzen (deceased)

Namikaze Minato (deceased)

Sage of Six Paths (deceased)

**Shinobis**

Shikaku Nara

Hatake Kakashi

Temari

Omoi

Sai

Akamichi Chouji

Inuzuka Kiba

Shizune

Iruka

Gai

Hyuuga Hiashi

Morino Ibiki

Uzumaki Mito (deceased)

**Villains**

Uchiha Madara

Uchiha Sasuke

The First Son (deceased)

Orochimaru (deceased)

…

Chapter 62: A Promise with the Red-Eyed Blonde

He had woken up at ten, eaten his breakfast with the girls, taken his bath, changed his clothes—he got his stock from Myobukuzan—and watched the sky with the girls, talking idly with them. Hashirama seemed to be skipping the day. Reiko had reverted to her emotionless self again and Karui was keeping a distance, sitting a few meters away from them. After awhile, Reiko went back to the tent. Karin kept him company for a few more moments until the exhaustion ate at her and she fell asleep on his chest. The wind smelled of grass and the day was too nice to waste in silence. He glanced at Karui. She had her hands behind her head and a grass stalk protruded from her mouth. She was deep in thought. Naruto gently laid Karin on the soft grass, took his jacket off, and covered her with it. She breathed his scent, much to his embarrassment, and pulled his jacket closer. Naruto now stood up and sat beside Karui.

"Hi," he said. Karui stiffened. He sat beside her. "Nice weather. Lucky we're on a mountain."

Karui started to get up. "I just remembered something I must do."

"Karui-san, I'm sorry about Uncle Bee. It was my fault. Please forgive me."

"Ah, so what you did is to disguise yourself as Sasuke and then kill him."

"It could have been that way," he looked at her, "the way you treat me now."

"Yes. If you sold Sasuke to us, things would have been different. But you never did, and I hated you for it."

"I'm sorry."

"And I heard that the animal annihilated an entire village. He's such a good friend, thoughtful enough to leave behind a survivor," she said. Naruto looked hurt and she regretted her words. "I hope you're seeing him now as what he is."

The wind blew at them. The rustle of leaves was the song of a chime under the blue canopy of the sky.

A smile slowly crossed Naruto's lips. "You said _hated._ You said you _hated_ me for it!"

Karui blushed, unable to keep her true thoughts from him anymore. "It's not something to be excited about. It was past tense—"

Naruto was in front of her all of a sudden, with the eagerness of a puppy, grabbing her hands. "Does it mean you don't hate me anymore? Does it?"

"Are you a child? I never told—"

"Thank you!" And he hugged her. "I'm so happy! It really hurt the way you ignored me every time we saw each other in Kumo."

"Stop hugging me, will you!"

Naruto let her go, nervously laughing, wiping drops of tears from the corner of his eyes. "Haha, sorry. I never thought I could ever talk with you like this. Even Uncle Bee told me to give up on you because you don't change your mind easily."

"So lame. Do you have to cry over this?"

"I'm sorry I called you a monster earlier."

"Doesn't matter." She sighed, secretly pleased. "Let's get something straight, Uzumaki-san—"

"Naruto. Call me Naruto."

"N-Naruto…" she blushed, clenching her teeth. She did not expect calling someone on first-name basis was hard to do. "I presume that you see Sasuke as a threat now."

His expression changed. "I do."

"I presume you already know what to do."

"I do."

Karin watched Naruto. Naruto's face grew darker with every statement she said. Now he was looking down at his feet. She wasn't sure if she should prod him on. She observed him for a few seconds more.

"Will you love me until death do us part?"

The voice did not come from her, but it was _her_ voice. She began to turn around. Then she remembered that she was talking with Naruto.

"I will," Naruto said.

Her heart pumped hard in her chest. Naruto, surprised, was staring at her. Her face, on the other hand—no need to check it—was hot enough to burst.

"Now you may kiss the bride," Hashirama said, laughing.

"What are you doing sneaking on us like that?" Karui said.

Hashirama leaned close to her. "Remember your bet with...ummm…ah, Omoi? You cannot forget something like that, can you? I'm giving you a hand here."

"How did you know about that?" she hissed. "You were far away from us!"

"My other self was _watching_ and _listening_ to the vibrations in the air. It was not that hard to miss, especially something interesting like that. Will you do it or will you pretend you've never had that bet, fooling yourself, everybody, and that handsome man behind you? If I were Omoi, I would feel betrayed. Really betrayed. Now, you have fifteen seconds left to decide?"

"What?"

"I've frozen his sense of time. Look."

Karui turned to see. Indeed, Naruto remained as he was, staring at her in surprise, not moving.

"Do it now. He'll never remember anything."

"All right." Hashirama was right. A bet is a bet. Those words had even come from her. She should not turn back on her words. She held Naruto's face, shut her eyes, and kissed him. The kiss she gave was the kiss she knew about, and the kiss she knew about was not the smack or smooch. It involved the athleticism of the tongue, the acoustics of moaning, and the mechanics of pleasure. She found herself enjoying the kiss for his mouth tasted like milk. When she pulled away, she was red on the face and her eyes were sparkling.

Naruto blinked at her, confusion on his face. "Karui-san?"

Karui, horrified, turned on her heels. "No!"

Hashirama waved as he walked to the tent, laughing out loud.

…

Inside the tent, Reiko was stowing the medical equipments into a scroll. She was almost done. Hashirama came in as she was attaching a summoning tag on the bed.

"Is he already good enough to walk around?" he asked.

"Yes, Sensei. As long as he doesn't use any technique beyond Class A, he'll be fine."

"That's good to hear. I need your help." He produced a black scroll from his armor and gave it to Reiko. "That is the Technique Limiter Seal created by Mito. It is not permanent and it is designed for recuperating shinobis. It will limit the output of the Celestial Gates to 200 Umikoto per beat, less than the amount required to execute Class A techniques."

"How long till the effect fades away?"

"Maximum of a week if he doesn't engage in any fighting. I already asked Enka to prepare him an herbal concoction that will increase the rate of his chakra channel's recovery, but is one week long enough?"

"Yes. The Fox's chakra is doing what it does best."

"Retain the bed. You'll need it for his last _checkup._"

Reiko nodded and then glanced at the scroll in her hand.

…

Naruto had a bruised face when he entered the tent. Outside, Karui's voice was loud and harsh. From her mouth came curses of familiar and unfamiliar variety, the sort that made use of unrehearsed creativity. Hashirama responded with short phrases and laughter, raising Karui's indignation. "No sword, hey!" he said, and the sound of running feet came next.

"What happened to your face?" Reiko asked.

Naruto smiled; something else was on his mind. "Why don't you keep that up? Why do you still need to hide your emotions whenever you're in public? I like seeing your smile, you know that."

"Quid pro quo, Naruto-chan. If I tell you, what will you give me in exchange? Would you give me a kiss?" and she laughed.

"I'm serious, Reiko-san."

"I know you are. All right. In exchange I want you to do something for me."

"What is it?"

"Seal that technique, that transformation you did when you fought the Shodai Hokage."

Naruto sighed. "I can't. I'm sorry."

Now Reiko grabbed his hands. Her hands had soft palms and unexpected warmth, completely opposite to the visage she often wore. "Please. I don't want you to die."

Naruto just smiled at her.

"My internal organs are all artificial, Naruto-chan. They are working perfectly well but I have this…I have this fear of them failing if I get overly excited or sad. I can only smile around you and Hashirama-sensei because both of you give me a mysterious feeling of reassurance."

"How did it happen?"

"Quid pro quo, Naruto-chan. What will you promise me?"

"Okay. Then I promise to use it for only a minute at a time, just until I feel the darkness seeping through. Is that enough?"

"It's not enough! You could lose your life the next time you use it. I've already experienced death, Naruto, and it's not pleasant dying young. All you will feel is guilt of leaving those who care for you. Naruto, Hashirama-sensei is like a father to me…" her grip tightened on his hands, "but you, you're my…you're something else." The blush that crept to her face was a sight to behold and made Reiko even more beautiful. "You valued me more that I deserved, more than what anyone has given me, much more than Hashirama-sensei. That single episode when you saved me from the Jester eclipsed my revival. I felt that I had to live on, Naruto. You've given me a reason to live. If I lose you, I don't think I can go on."

Naruto looked into her, read her. The tears that had impeded for so long now flowed down in a rich stream down her face. Naruto was witnessing Reiko's most vulnerable state. He looked down. He hadn't realized that he could mean so much to a person he just recently met. There must be another way to use the Fox's chakra without endangering his life. He breathed deeply.

"Okay. I'll find another way. I'm sealing the technique until I learn how to control the darkness of the Demon Fox."

Out of happiness Reiko hugged him. The tears that seemed to have stopped flowed out once more, and she could not be happier. It went for awhile, she unabashedly crying on his shoulder. And he let her. He understood the feeling of not wanting to stop, especially if the tears and the sobs and the tight embrace were out of happiness.

Reiko applied the Technique Limiter Seal on him. She was a girl when she did it, and Naruto was laughing with her. Naruto turned back to her when she was done. She grabbed the opportunity and his face and kissed him deeply.

"The last time was obligatory to clear my mind of you," Reiko said. "Now I'm a little serious about it."

Naruto smiled. Twice in a row, twice in a day. He thought of Karin's glasses and red lips and red hair and whispered, "I hope not."

"Naruto, I love you," Reiko said.

"Then smile for me."

She flashed him her perfect teeth, her red eyes dancing, and Sasuke's scent temporarily disappeared.

…

Naruto ducked beneath the flap and held it for Reiko. They arrived on a bristling Karui holding her sword. Hashirama was atop a tree he had obviously grown for himself, clutching the trunk like a sloth on a pole. His right eye was black.

"Naruto, Miss Glasses doesn't want to share her healing ability with me!"

"You deserve that black eye, you pervert!" Karin said. "Hey, Naruto, kiss me, too!"

"Stop right there, Naruto! You're going overboard with this harem of yours!"

"It's not his fault, Sensei," Reiko said, smiling. "He's just too irresistible."

That smile on Reiko's face was unusual and the trio noticed it. "Did you two do it?" Hashirama asked. Unconscious of themselves, their eyes went down to Naruto's crotch, searching for a residue of erection there.

Naruto covered himself. "Where do you think you're looking at?"

"Reiko!" Hashirama barked. "Don't deny it. I'll punish you if you defend this cretin! Was he good?" There was a crack, and then the tree fell. "At least let me hear her answeeeeeeeer!"

"Reiko-san, you know the way. How long to your main camp?" Karui said, sheathing her sword.

"An hour and fifteen minutes with my pace," Reiko said.

Karui looked over her shoulder. "Hey, Ero-Kage, we'll be moving ahead of you."

Hashirama's voice was muffled by the wood and the earth. "Don't leave me buried here!"

"Tch. Let's get going."

…

On their way down, Hashirama told them about the war's status. It was virtually a retelling of what Reiko had shared to them. The grass shone against the dappled sunshine, green blades bending and crunching under their feet. The two masked shinobi, one ten meters behind, one ten meters ahead, kept their silence in courtesy and vigilance.

"I cannot stay with you," Naruto said. "There's something I must do in Ajit."

"You're still planning to try for the Narrow Path?" Hashirama said.

"Yes. My mom and my friends are waiting for me. I made a promise to them."

"Are you confident that you'll find it?"

"It is calling me."

The grass blades crunched with his every step. "I see. Naruto, do you trust me?"

"Right now, I don't know. You almost killed Chiasa."

"I knew that Chiasa didn't have a sister. I was forcing it out of her."

"I don't approve of your method."

"I was planning to stop the executioner's blade if Chiasa did not budge, but you suddenly came out of nowhere and rescued her."

"If you knew, you wouldn't have needed to pull off that kind of entrapment."

"We needed to hear it from her. You just can't arrest someone without a confession or evidence. We did not have evidence."

"I really don't know. I can still remember the words that you said."

Hashirama stopped and turned around. "Naruto, listen to me. I was trying to help her. But that Genjutsu was unbelievably strong. It was the kind of illusion where you needed to incapacitate the caster to break. I and Hibarashi-dono knew that the caster was inside of Chiasa, but we did not know how to deal with it. We were afraid that if we showed that we knew, something bad might happen to Chiasa. It's the reason we employed the oldest of tactics: using fear against self-preservation. Those words that came out of my mouth were all made up. I did not mean a thing I said. All of that was just to hide the fact that we knew something. I don't know what would have happened if you did not come, but your decision of taking Chiasa's side was a blessing both to her and to the heiresses."

"But you did not let up. You sent Setsuko to dispose of Chiasa."

"I had no choice, and I told Setsuko to strike only if necessary. Honestly, even after living for almost a century, it was my first time to encounter a Genjutsu that powerful. Chiasa's subconscious was perfectly normal inside and out. Hibarashi-dono tried to invade her with mind techniques, but he could not find any abnormality. The illusion was absolute and I knew instantly that it was a Genjutsu of the highest class—the Sennin Class. I swear I did not mean any harm. I was also trying my best to save Chiasa in my own way."

Naruto considered for a long time. "I already broke the illusion."

"What? But how?"

Naruto told him what had happened a week ago.

"And now this Kalua is travelling with you?"

"Yes."

"And Chiasa, where is she?"

"Konoha."

"So that was the reason you were there. I understand now. Thank you for saving her, Naruto. I'll tell her everything once this is all over. Now, Naruto, can you put your trust on me again?"

Naruto sighed. "I guess I could do that."

"Okay. When you were in Hensen no Kuusho, Tsunade made a quick visit and we talked."

"In Hensen no Kuusho?"

"Yes. I requested from her the three most skilled Taijutsuist in Konoha: Tenten, Rock Lee, and Hyuuga Neji. The reason is this." Hashirama showed him five crystal balls the size of eggs. "This is a specialized version of Hensen no Kuusho. You see, Musashi-dono's army is composed mostly of civilians: farmers, fishermen, cobblers, peddlers, and the like. He only got more or less a thousand trained soldiers with him. Ninety nine percent are complete novice. You might be thinking that seventeen years is already enough to train these people, but it is not enough if you will consider the size of the population and the availability of weapons to train with. If you add the necessity of keeping the Alliance secret, the place of training will also be limited. I'll use these crystal balls to train Musashi-dono's would-be warriors in combat."

"You have five balls."

"One is for Princess Kaguya, the other is for Princess Yori, archery and swordsmanship. By the end of three months—that's three years in the training ground—we will have five divisions of strong fighters."

"Okay…"

"I'm proposing a trade. Akito for the three masters."

"That's preposterous!" Karui blurted out. "I know those three shinobis. They are strong. It's an unfair trade."

"I'm not trying to trade on the basis of strength. Akito is familiar with the territory and she knows my plan. You will go to Ajit to try to find the Narrow path, not to battle it out with Kogiwara's army."

Naruto frowned at the _she._

"At least send in another one," Karui said. "I think I can trust Reiko-san."

"Reiko is a division captain. I cannot send her, while I can send Akito anywhere."

"You're trading an errand girl for three masters?"

Hashirama smiled, proudly. "She's my deputy commander. As far as I'm concerned, Akito is very strong."

"It's still—"

Naruto put a hand on Karui's shoulder. "You, Karin, and Akito-san will be enough compensation, Karui. Can we be on first name basis now?"

Redness blossomed on her cheeks. She could not answer Naruto. She glared at Hashirama as if saying, "This is all your fault!"

"All right," Naruto said. "If it will shorten the duration of this war, I agree."

Hashirama smiled. "It will."

…

Hashirama's camp was situated at the foot of the mountain. There were several smaller tents around a huge one. A bon fire burned in front of the huge tent and the top people of Hashirama's group sat around it, keeping warm. When one of the masked ninjas was seen by the watcher, the camp was alerted by the sound of a horn. Shinobis gathered at the entrance, guarded but excited. Tsuneo and Midori exchanged glances and stood up. The others followed them to the entrance. A squeal ripped the solemn afternoon. "My God, he's not handsome, he's gorgeous!" "Look at his eyes, look." "Damn it! So this is why he's so popular!" The men appraised the women. "Those chicks are hot, man. Look at the one with the frown on her face. How cute!" "The one with glasses is better!" "I hope they share a table with me tonight." The murmurs kept going, rising in intensity by the second, and then Akito appeared and the crowd bit its tongue.

"Onii-chama!" Hiromi ran into Naruto's arms. "I missed you!"

"I missed you, too, Hiromi-chan."

A girl cleared her throat. Naruto looked in the direction of the sound and saw Midori pecking glances at him.

"Welcome back," she said.

Naruto grinned. "Hello, Midori-san. And Saki-san. Tsuneo-san, I'm back."

"Hi, I'm Enka." He was not sure how the green-head got there, her hand stretched to him.

"Hi, Uzumaki Naruto at your service."

"Can I ride your back? Hee-hee."

"Huh?" Naruto questioned Hashirama with his eyes.

"Just say yes," Hashirama said.

"Okay," Naruto said to Enka.

"After her, then," Enka said, pertaining to Hiromi who had tightened her grip around Naruto's neck.

"All right."

"You're beautiful, hee-hee!" Enka ran back into the crowd.

Now a woman that looked like a fairy from a picture book came to them, eyes blazing in the blue haze of flaming irises. Naruto had to cringe and shudder. The air around this incredibly attractive girl was that of winter. She raised her hand and he was afraid that it would crumble in his grip, for it looked more delicate that a feather.

"I'm Kamakiri Akito," she said. "Hashirama-sensei's deputy commander. Welcome, Asahi-dono."

The sharp pain of the icy touch made Naruto pull his hand. His smile was forced when he said, "Pleased to meet you."

A thud from behind the crowd and the roar of laughter. The huge man put on a wide, welcoming grin. "Guests, I'm Gamara." He tapped the large jar of sake beside him. "Let the celebration commence!"

And atop the tent's main pole, hoping for attention, a smooth scalp reflected the light of the bon fire and the sun, and the halo it created made him look like a Buddha. Zuko said, "Let me take care of the blessing. Amithabha."

_To be continued…_


	63. Chapter 63

Chapter 63: Undeserved Hostility

Midori kept herself hidden in the shadows, watching by small glimpses the banquet at the long table. The fair-skinned and the tanned redheads flanked him on the bench. Hiromi enjoyed her chicken leg sitting on his lap. Enka had her chin on her hands, legs swinging beneath the table, across him. Midori did not care about the men drinking senseless from jars. Her eyes were only for Naruto for the night. He was more attractive than before, or did her eyes make her see what she wanted to see? She recalled her behavior the last time they had seen each other. She had tried to make use of the tongue-to-tongue chakra transfer to disguise her desire to kiss him. The truth was all she had said that time came from her heart, no lies in them, not one. She missed him and it angered her when he refused and told her he did not like the idea. Now that episode bothered her. She couldn't even look at his face. What should she do? If Naruto stayed, he would surely want to see her and would find it awkward if she kept hiding from him. She peeked at him and caught his smile. Her heart protested in her chest. Was she falling in love with him? Was this it, the thing that swept her mom off her feet?

"You're blushing," Saki said behind her.

"Mom!"

"What are you doing here? I thought you were sleeping."

"I don't know what to do, Mom. I can't stand being around him. I feel like fainting every time."

"Ah, you're not denying it this time."

"Mom, help me. He's staying, right?"

"They're not talking about it at the table. All of the topics have been nonsense." Saki held Midori's arm. "Come on. You cannot fight fear but face to face."

Midori tried to struggle her way out of the impending embarrassment trial, but Saki was stronger because she was a little tipsy. They reached the table and stood behind Tsuneo, who was directly across Naruto. Tsuneo had a goofy smile on his face.

"Make space," Saki said. "Midori needs a seat."

"You damn woman, where have you been?" To Midori he said, "Hi, sweetheart, where have you been?"

Saki's expression darkened. Only her smile remained. "Ah, damn woman, eh? How affectionate!"

Tsuneo recognized the tone and cringed. He got off the bench and offered it with severe servility. "I'm only joking, Honey. Here, take my seat." He left for the barrels.

"Sorry about that. He gets stupid when he's drunk."

"Hmph! Everyone does including those that shit gold," Karui said.

That smile again. "Your hyperbole is good but rather inappropriate in front of the food, isn't it?"

"Hey, I'm drunk! Give me a break!"

"I've had my shots, too, but I'm still sober."

Karui sneered, slamming a bottle of sake on the table. "So that's why you still can't understand my language. Hell, here, some more gulps and we'll be in perfect connection. Or are you afraid to lose this so called sobriety of yours?"

Saki forgot what she was there for. "Who's afraid of anything?" she said, taking the challenge and draining the bottle in one go. She wobbled but managed to hold on the edge of the table. "Let's see you try that one, bitch!"

Midori began her retreat. Seeing this and not wanting to drink anymore, Naruto excused himself and followed her. Naruto caught up, tapping Midori on the shoulder.

"Hi, there," he said. "What's up? Why are you keeping in the shadows?"

"I don't drink," Midori said, dismissively, walking faster.

"Hey, wait up!"

"Go away!"

Naruto grabbed her arm. "Wait, I'm not inviting you for a drink. I already had enough. I just want to talk with you."

Midori stopped, considering if she should accept the invitation. She looked over her shoulder at him. His eyes were hoping that her answer would be favorable. She said, "I'm sorry but I'm tired. Maybe next time." She left him standing there, cursing at herself.

…

Naruto dumbly stared at the retreating back of Midori. He raised his hands and breathed into it and inhaled. "I smell of fermented rice but nothing bad. I don't remember saying anything offending, either. Is she just mad at me for no reason?"

"Hey you!" he heard a female voice behind her.

Naruto turned around. "Oh, Akito-san, hi."

"Tch. Don't act too friendly. I'm here to challenge you to a fight." She told him that even Hashirama would never be able to convince her to go with him to Ajit if she did not approve of it. Naruto thought that she must be drunk, but looking up into her eyes, he doubted it was the case. Naruto told her that he was forbidden to fight for a time because of his recent injuries and he made a promise to Reiko to seal his best technique. Even if they fought, it would not be worth their time for he could not bring out his best in the fight.

"You can choose," Akito said. "You can either wait for Reiko-senpai's green light or fight me with what you have now. If you choose neither, I will not go."

This got into Naruto and he could not help snapping. "I agreed with the deal because I wanted the war to end early. Now if you don't want to cooperate with me, I don't care. I'll still ask my friends to assist Hashirama-sensei." He wondered aloud why, like Akito and the former Chiasa, Morigakure ninjas were war freaks.

Akito defended herself, saying that they were not. She was just particular with the eligibility of the people she would accompany. "I'm Hashirama-sensei's deputy commander after all."

Naruto sighed harshly. So the girl was just concerned with her reputation. He could have accepted her argument if it came from a firm allegiance to the traditions of her clan, like Chiasa's, but it was not. The beautiful girl in front of him was obviously only worried about her status. He had not had the strong desire to walk out on someone before until now. His teeth clicked inside his mouth as he controlled himself from lashing out at her.

"Don't go then," Naruto said. "I don't even want to be teammates with you."

"What did you say?"

He turned on his heels and walked away. When he was out of Akito's sight, he came to realize something. He recalled Sasuke's words. _I thought you did not know how to be angry._ But he reasoned to himself that everyone would be angry at Akito when suddenly confronted with such intensity of distrust. She did not even give it a second of thought when he told her about his injuries. _Fight me with what you have now._ But his thinking nevertheless stopped him from walking. He turned around and was surprised to find that Akito had followed him. Both caught off-guard, they apologized at the same time. Akito told him that he did not need to fight her anymore while Naruto told her that he would do his best even if he did not have his complete arsenal, still at the same time. Silence came over between them, and when it became apparent that she was waiting for him, he said, "I'm sorry I was harsh on you. I'm taking back what I said."

Akito nodded, her pale blue eyes clear under the moonlight.

"I'd be glad to fight you."

A small smile of excitement appeared on Akito's lips. "Meet me at dawn tomorrow."

Naruto had to smile. Morigakure shinobis were war freaks after all.

…

An accident occurred that night. Enka, whom Hashirama forbade to drink so that she could make them an herbal concoction to flush away drunkenness, mistook Saki's bottle as hers. The liquid that came out was bittersweet but delightful, and one drop was enough to latch her mouth onto the bottle. She shuddered once and then fell into a deep slumber. The night went on unhindered by war talks and they enjoyed themselves to the fullest. When Hashirama searched for Enka and found her blissfully asleep, he shrugged his original plan off his shoulder and went for another barrel. There will always be tomorrow, he thought, as he staggered away from the long table.

It was bold of them to celebrate while in the lands of the enemy, but Hashirama was not a fool. He commanded a large number to guard the camp and these people, albeit unlucky to be staying away from the fire, were contented to have three bottles each and a lot of sanity to keep their master's safety. Chance cooperated and no untoward incident occurred—just for the little accident maybe that kept them away from serious talk for once and brought them up to a brief euphoria.

"Akito-sama."

"I'll be back."

"It's too early. Let me get you an escort—Asahi-dono."

"He's with me."

The guard read what was between the two and understood. "I'll let the cook know. What do you want to eat when you come back?"

"Cheese and ham."

"Beef ramen."

"As you wish, Akito-sama, Asahi-dono. Have a safe trip."

…

It was his chance to see for himself how much he had improved. Akito, he knew, would be far better than most of his peers, being Hashirama's second in command. With the limiter in place, the fight would be more than a challenge for him. How could he defeat her if he could not use his Rasengan?

"This will be how spars are usually done," Akito said. "No fatal strikes are allowed. First one to render the opponent unconscious or to make the opponent surrender wins."

"No fatal strikes…thank goodness."

"Yes, no fatal strikes, but strikes that inflict a lot of _pain_ are permitted."

"You enjoy the word as it rolls on your tongue."

Akito reddened. "It is simply a warning for you to always be on guard."

Lowering his stand, he said, "I always shun challenges from pretty kunoichi, for I do not want their faces ruined."

Akito arched her thin eyebrow.

"Something I learned from my old sensei. I've always wanted to try this line on a girl even once."

"So you've only tried it on boys before?" she said, chuckling.

He began his attack with a sprint. Sharp icicles formed in front of Akito and, as his feet ate the distance separating them, the icicles launched at him. The first fruit of his improvement fell down to his notice. He could see the icicles as if in slow motion. He did not need too much motion to dodge. His proximity to Akito increased by the second without him using any special moves. Akito noticed his grace and ease of approach so she leaped back and launch a cold splash of fog that with chakra she made as heavy as avalanche. As the earth was scraped by the rolling fog, the air got naked of heat. Naruto knew that if he braved the white wall he, as the earth, would be scraped of life.

"I thought no fatal attacks!"

"Are you too lame to dodge?"

Naruto heeded Akito's voice and evaded to the left just as the fog swallowed the ground he had stood at. He tried to transform into his Sage Mode, but sudden electricity stopped him from doing so. The limiter was alive and vigilant for his expected violations. _I almost forgot. _Cursing under his breath, he settled for his Kage Bunshin. He stowed two from sight and retained one to assist him. Akito made use of the fog, thickening it to her liking, as a veil to hide her. The temperature was too low now that plume of vapor accompanied his breath. Akito was setting a territory she could freely control.

Naruto blew fire from his mouth to dissipate the fog a little, turning it to dew. He looked around hoping to spot even the silhouette of his opponent. The ground had begun to freeze and the surface beneath his rubber sandals became slippery. Trying to shift his weight, he slipped a little. Another stream of fire shot out from his mouth. It melted a dry path but failed to settle the thick fog. The hole he had created closed up as quickly as it appeared. Akito did not wait, could not wait any longer. She came sliding from a bridge she had constructed with her ice. In her hands were swords of transparent blades. She was coming for Naruto's right side. Naruto tried to turn as fast as he could but he lost footing on the slippery ground. He was barely able to block the blades from drilling into his lungs. With that he realized that Akito meant business. She would leave enough life in him to survive, but that would depend on whether he would commit a mistake or not. He called on to his assistant shadow clone for help. Having expected this beforehand, a clone of Akito shot Naruto's clone in the head with an ice arrow. Even Naruto cringed at the efficiency of the ambush. Akito began chasing him with her blades. The glint of murder was in her eyes and he did not like it a bit. Her rapid strokes might have already hit him if not for his improved capacity now to see motion. In the course of their lethal game of tag, Naruto finally found a blind spot, and with a fast twist of his hip, delivered a blow into Akito's ribs. Knowing the barrage that would soon come, Akito escaped from him. Naruto stood and then froze as he felt the sudden thrust in his back. An ice spike had shot from the ground and pierced his right lung. He fought to keep his consciousness.

"You lost," Akito said, holding her ribs.

Naruto smiled. "I think I've broken several of your ribs. We both got blood in our mouths."

"I could have aimed for your heart and killed you."

"I could have aimed for your face and killed your pride." He grinned and she grinned back, enjoying the exchange. "But let me ask you, how many times have you fought with broken bones or punctured lungs?"

"Not often in true battles for I kill them outright." She raised her hand. "You're fast, but it's over. Blizzard Release—"

"I forgot to tell you. I've got two years of experience _sparring _with Hokages every other day."

It came from behind. Eyes wide in shock, Akito slowly turned her head around. Two Narutos were behind her, the nearest holding a swirling ball of chakra in his hand. "Rasengan…" she muttered, couldn't believe it. It took her several moments to wake up. "So what I attacked was your clone. Damn it. I set the territory to detect thermal anomalies," she smiled, "and that's what it did." The two Narutos were suddenly enveloped by ice and they stood there frozen. "I'm sorry to tell you but when I say you lost, you lost. Remember the rule? You should have rendered me unconscious or made me surrender."

Suddenly, without her sensing at all, the warmth of an arm was around her waist and the coldness of a kunai was upon her throat. She could smell the scent of earth and dew from him. Smiling, she leaned on his chest. "To take that spike yourself, you must be a crazy man."

"It was all a ruse, including the Rasengan. Say you surrender."

"Cautious this time? Haha. Okay, I surrender." The thickness of the fog decreased and the normal temperature of dawn returned.

Naruto eased up, falling down on his knees. "I thought I'd die."

"I can help you with that wound."

"Don't worry. It'll heal by itself."

"No, I mean, I don't want to go to the camp injured. Share your chakra with me."

"And how will that help me?"

"My chakra can erase scars. You can heal your own wound, I know that, but the scar will remain. You told me that you promised Reiko-senpai. I'm sure she will check on you for the last time before we leave. If she sees that new scar, which with its size is hard to miss, she'll be hurt and you don't want her sulking on you."

Naruto chuckled. "A war freak with a tongue for politics."

Akito found herself warming up to him because of his frankness. She decided to show some of her girly side. She pumped his uninjured chest with her fist, saying, "Do you want it or not?"

"So your chakra is the reason you are so beautiful?"

"Are you already delirious?" she admonished but she was blushing. "Anyway, let's get on with it. Here's what we're gonna do. We will sit back to back."

"That's all? No rituals? No tongue-to-tongue chakra transfer?"

"What? No! And who would kiss you?"

"You have no idea."

Frowning, she went and sat behind him, leaning against his back. "Just imagine your chakra—ah! Not so fast! You're tickling me." Naruto gradually decreased his discharge. "That's it."

Naruto braved putting his hand on Akito's. For the first time, he felt a skin as soft as a baby's. "Friends?"

"Don't be fresh. Not yet, but we're getting there." Naruto started removing his hand. She grabbed it back. "I _said_ we're getting there. Drop the sissiness and grab tight."

Now that her palm was over his, he could feel her softness much better. He groaned contentedly.

After a long silence, Akito said, "Sorry for being a war freak. It became a habit for me. I know that I'm cute and because of that people forget what I am, which is a kunoichi. They are all afraid to fight me not because I'm strong but because they might give me scars. I worked hard to be where I am, but I cannot make anyone proud of me. When I told my parents that I wanted to participate in a Chuunin Exam, they arranged for my marriage. I ran away and applied for citizenship in Morigakure. The shinobis in that village accepted me and treated me as their own. But my situation didn't change. Women will fight me on short notice, but men are still reluctant. Sometimes I wonder if my beauty is a curse. Even Hashirama-sensei is powerless to change that. I was testing you last night. I wanted to know if you would refuse to fight me because of the usual reasons. I was surprised that you held on to your pride and idealism. It was the reason I followed you. Naruto, didn't you suspect anything when I still challenged you despite your injuries?"

"I thought you were a bitch."

Akito let out her first genuine laugh in years. "Your sense of humor seems to root from your honesty."

…

Hashirama was washing his face from a basin on the long table now clean of the mess they had made of it last night. The water was pleasantly cool on his face. His hangover had instantly died after he gulped the green concoction that Enka had prepared. Even honeyed, the thick liquid induced nausea, but instead of being annoyed, he was grateful for the awful taste because it had intensified his wakefulness. At the moment, the aroma of the concoction boiling in the large pot at the campfire ruled the camp. Hashirama could also hear retching from everywhere. Enka, as she ladled a serving into the shinobis' bowl, announced, "Punishment! Punishment!" leaving them unable to refuse out of guilt. They had too much last night, Hashirama admitted to himself, but it was fun. As he wiped his face with a towel, he spotted Akito and Naruto coming from the mountains. A lecherous smile stretched his lips. He trudged on the grassy soil and met them at the entrance. He looked from one to the other, noticing the touch of rosiness on Akito's fair cheeks. Arching his brows, he hooked an arm around Naruto's shoulders, pulling him to the side.

"You lecher! Do you know that Akito is the most beautiful woman in Ichiba? You got Chiasa's virginity. Did you get Akito's, too?"

"What? I did not!"

"It's not the time to be secretive. Come on. Be honest with me!"

Naruto, irritated, pushed Hashirama away. "I didn't have sex with her! Are you nuts?"

Hashirama smiled at him, benignly. "Thanks. You made her happy. I can tell from her aura." He looked over his shoulder. Akito was now calling onto the shinobis for roll call. "Nobody could give her a reason to smile until today. She's a proud Kamakiri and what she hates most is a man going easy on her just because she's pretty. Let's go. Time for serious talk." He went ahead.

As Naruto passed by the outpost, the guard they had talked with earlier peeked out from the window. "Asahi-dono, your food is at the Cook's quarters."

Naruto nodded his appreciation and went on.

…

The soldier had the luck to be included in the team that met Princess Yori Sagai. Her battleship had just arrived, its pennants whipping in the wind. They bore the golden eagle that symbolized Taka. The adjutant yelled a command and they started to march in place. Another command and the ranks moved into two lines that fenced the pathway to the Ajit Administration Center. The marching feet thundered in unison and gave off the air of professionalism and unity. The adjutant yelled once and their feet fell simultaneously like a crack from a rifle. The horns played the Song of Arrival of the Divine. It only lasted five seconds. The stairs were lowered from the battleship. Two white-clad officers descended from it, standing on both sides of the last step. The place was submerged into a moment of reverent silence. No one moved a millimeter in deep respect for her appearance. Only the free clouds above dared.

Now she came, elegant and beautiful atop the stairs. Her short blue hair reflected the sunlight. She took in the size of the cavalry that welcomed her, and she imperceptibly nodded in appreciation. Nue highly placed her in high regard. Two thousand had come to show that regard. The soldier peered from the corner of his eyes. The beauty of the princess took his breath away. _My God! Are royalties supposed to be this beautiful?_ Princess Yori sighed, somewhat disappointed. This brought a frown on the soldier's eyebrows. Why? Was their number insufficient? They had worn their best. Was it not to the princess's liking? Princess Yori reached the ground, her eyes darting from left to right. Those granted with her glance blushed away into ecstasy. Princess Yori sighed once more. She assumed a cold, military expression as she walked through the ranks towards the Ajit Administration Center.

The soldier considered what he saw. Princess Yori seemed to be expecting someone to be there amidst their number. _Who might that be?_ Her eyes projected the expression of a woman longing for her loved one. _Was it actually her lover?_

Princess Yori stopped in front of the adjutant. The soldier was near enough to hear her words.

"A man will come here and will introduce himself as Asahi the Mercenary. Bring him to me at once."

The soldier's eyes bulged in disbelief. The rumored conqueror of the Queen of Serpents was coming to Ajit._ So it's the hero she is looking for? _A smile crossed his lips. The sergeant groaned, casting him a baleful glare. He did not care much. Who cared? A little punishment was not enough to dampen his excitement. _The hero and the princess. It's like in the fairy tales!_

_To be continued…_


	64. Chapter 64

Chapter 64: Into the Path

The next morning, after an unceremonious departure, Naruto, Hashirama, Akito, Karin, and Karui set off for Ajit. Naruto used his Beast's Portal to teleport to where his mother and friends were. Kalua and Aika raced towards him the moment he and his companions appeared at the center of a summoning circle covered in thick smoke. The two girls were assigned to fetch water from a nearby stream that morning, and when they sensed a change of ambience in the surrounding, they knew immediately that it was Naruto.

Aika slowed down as she saw Hashirama and the three women. "What is

he doing here?"

Hashirama flashed her a smile. "Good morning to you, too, cute-chan!"

"It is important, Aika," Naruto said. "Let's forget what he had done for now."

"Oi, oi, you make me sound like a criminal. Aika, was it? You know—"

"I'm not asking you!" Aika said.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Anyway, Aika, I'm not here to apologize for my decision with Chiasa. I'm here for something more important than that." He and Naruto exchanged looks.

Aika stared at Hashirama. She forgot the presence of the other girls, even of Kalua who was now clinging to her precious onii-chan without a care in the world.

...

Naruto introduced Kalua to Hashirama. The Shodai Hokage offered her a shake but she shied away, retreating behind Naruto and hiding her face. Karin, Akito, and Karui introduced themselves to Naruto's party. Aika was loud about her displeasure, especially about the fact that the women would be joining them starting that day. Setsuko and Tenten remained silent but they eyed the new arrivals, warily. Neji maintained a polite attitude. Katsuo would have done the same had he not been gone to hunt for deer. Only Rock Lee and Kushina showed enthusiasm in accepting them.

"Naruto-onii-chan, isn't she a criminal?" Aika asked when no one was around.

"Karin's a good person, Aika."

"Yes, I can see it. But every clever villain can act! What if she has planned this eventuality all along?"

"What?" Naruto was smiling.

"I mean, what if she was just waiting for someone to show pity on her? What if she's still working for that guy?"

"You mean Sasuke? No. She hates him now." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Give her a chance, will you? You have a knack for reading people. I trust you to find out for yourself if I made a bad decision."

"You're always like this," Aika mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Alright! But don't think I will easily trust her just because you say so! I'll be watching her. If she tries anything funny, I will kill her."

"You'll be surprised."

"Hmph!" A short silence. "A-anyway, I'm happy you're back."

"Thank you. I'm glad to see you, too, Aika."

After Aika left, Setsuko came out of her hiding place.

Naruto had settled down beside a tree. He looked up. "I was itching to tell Aika on you, you know?"

Setsuko blushed. The color on her tanned face made her even more striking.

"H-how's Chiasa?"

"Taken good care of. My grandma Tsunade personally checks on her from time to time."

"G-good." Setsuko fidgeted.

"What is it?"

"W-what?"

"Oh, I know. Sorry." He stood up. "This is a comfortable place and I thought of taking a nap here. Sorry I didn't realize sooner. The place smells of you."

Setsuko made a short gasp. "I always take a bath!"

"Oh, I don't mean it in a bad way." He yawned. "I'll be taking the quarters, then."

When he was gone, she frantically inspected the grass surrounding the bottom of the tree for disturbance. She sighed in relief to find none. Because behind it, carved with a kunai, was an inscription she could have died of embarrassment on if Naruto had seen.

Before dinner, Naruto broke the news to Neji, Lee, and Tenten. They were out on a ridge overlooking the City of Ajit. The sun appeared like a pink orb as its rays went through the exhaust of chimneys of factories which seemed to comprise the majority of the place.

"No!" Tenten said. "Our detail order was clear. Naruto, we are here to protect you."

"They need your help. These people aren't warriors, Tenten. These people are farmers."

"I don't care!" The words were too heavy Tenten was huffing when she finished. An awkward silence ensued. Tenten realized what she had just said. She looked up at Naruto's startled face and then walked away.

"Naruto, I'm sorry. She—we are upset about this whole business. It is like Hashirama-san is deliberately trying to separate us from you. Couldn't he find other shinobi to teach these people?" Neji said.

"There are others, of course," Hashirama said.

"Where did you come from?" Lee blurted out.

"Ah, I had always used this technique to sneak on my brother, you know. He liked to hover in air when he meditated so it was very tempting to—"

"You were saying?" Neji cut off. He glanced at Hashirama, apprehensively.

"Always the professional." Hashirama chuckled. "Okay, since it came to this, I will get to the point. After you have trained your assigned groups, you will be their commanders. That is my plan. During your training, you can observe them and they can observe you. With that, every one will adapt, and by the time you finish, you will be a specialized unit working as one."

"You are talking of mere months."

"Who said that? You will train for over a year!"

"Hey, this war is happening today."

"I know." Hashirama put on a haughty smile before plunging on with the concepts of Henshen no Kuusho.

Neji and Lee listened attentively at Hashirama's explanation. Hashirama laid out everything as clear as possible. Neji absorbed everything in one go while Lee had few technical questions, mostly about the connection of chakra flow rate and time in the dimensional space. Hashirama answered all, including pinpoint stupid ones. He was nothing but accommodating, a merchant and a politician at work. Besides, from what he had learned from Hiruzen, like Naruto, Lee was not academically attuned.

When Lee had no more questions, Neji asked if Hashirama could leave them. Hashirama reminded them not to be late for supper then went on.

"It seems we have no choice," Neji said. "Just make sure you're not gonna be too reckless out there."

"I promise," Naruto said.

"Take care of Kalua for me," Lee said, sounding like a father entrusting his daughter to her groom. It brought a smile to Naruto's lips.

"Of course."

"I will explain everything to Tenten," Neji said.

"Thank you."

"But if you can, talk to her, preferably alone," Neji said as he walked past Naruto.

...

That night Naruto went to the hills beyond the stream. He had talked to Kushina and she said that Tenten frequented the place. Tenten had not come for dinner and they knew the reason. Like Aika and the others, she knew how it felt to lose Naruto. She had been spared immediately of a deeper pain when Tsunade told her Naruto was alive, but the thing is she had been away when she heard about his demise, unjustly away. Had it been real, she would not have had the chance to even say goodbye. She would never let something like that to happen, of course, as long as she lived, but who knew? All she cared about was to be near him when it happened.

Naruto found her training in a wide clearing carpeted with grass. She was dancing. In her hands were large circle blades she spun and slashed at invisible enemies. Her feet and body bore a kind of grace both sexy and lethal. Each step was calculated to be precise and accurate, but they were so beautiful to watch it was almost moving art.

Like water you shall flow, like wind you shall come, like earth you shall be as strong, like fire you shall be as warm.

These were Hiruzen's words and they came to him loud as the shush of the gentle breeze, like a whisper, as he watched the beautiful girl in the clearing.

"Voyeur," Tenten said with disdain. She went to get her towel and began wiping her face. "I don't appreciate being watched, especially when I train."

Naruto approached her. "I couldn't help myself from staring. What you did, it's so pretty."

Tenten stopped moving and looked at him. "Why are you here, anyway?"

Naruto produced a box wrapped in cloth. "You missed dinner. Mom wants you to have this."

Tenten turned around. She took out a piece of cloth from her knapsack and started cleaning her blades. Naruto untied his cloak and spread it on the ground. He set the box down and brought out its contents. The wind carried the aroma to Tenten's nose. Her stomach grumbled and she blurted a loud "Ha!" to hide it.

"I know you're hungry," Naruto said.

Tenten turned to look at the food but instead caught Naruto's gaze. They stared for a time, until Naruto smiled and Tenten did not know how to respond to that.

Tenten gave in to her hunger, as what she told Naruto in defiance. They talked of nothing at first but the topic came to Hashirama's request. When Naruto was about to ask something, she held her hand up and said, "Let me think." After a time, she let out a breath and simply said, "Okay."

Naruto beamed. "Thank you."

"But promise me, Naruto, promise me you'll not die." She could not look at him for the tears were already there. But she should have looked, right then she should have turned her head.

"I promise," he said. "I never break promises."

When she finally turned, the tears which she had let fall in beads and not flow down her face were gone. Her smile was the sweetest she had given a man, a someone for that matter. Naruto smiled back then they stood up, and when they began to walk she opened the cage of her courage. Her right arm caught her courage and Naruto's neckline. He turned and she kissed him.

"Listen to this and listen carefully..."

But all Naruto could make out in that startled state of his was the word you. He did not notice the kiss because it was too light, almost passing. Tenten seemed to be waiting so he said, "Okay."

A moment's pause before Tenten let out a quivering breath. "Don't walk too fast, okay? My legs are wobbly." That was all she could do not to cry again.

Back at their camp Tenten tried to appear as what she always was, but here she pretended and the sharp eyes of Kushina and Neji noticed. Kushina knew. She held Tenten's hand and excused themselves out. A safe distance away, Kushina put her arms around Tenten. Tenten broke under the older woman's warmth and cried.

"I'll stay with you," Kushina said. "I will hate my stupid son for tonight."

Tenten put her arms around Kushina's waist and they stayed like that for a long while.

...

Late that evening, Katsuo came back with news. A pack of wolves passed by, he said, and told him that they smelled danger brewing in the northwest. A lot of animals had already migrated south, only the small birds did not care much because the danger was barely imminent. Birds moved when danger was in front of them, the Alpha had commented. Karui seemed to hold her belief in tight leash until Karin said that Jugo, once a colleague, knew how to speak with birds.

"If it's danger, it probably means the war," Setsuko said.

"No," Katsuo said. "They can't smell danger from war. War is their friend. It means easy food. No. What they are avoiding is a much greater threat. The wolf said creature. They are getting away from a creature."

Hashirama's face was impassive the whole time. He knew something and those who knew how he was kept their quiet. The fire in their midst cracked and spots of ember flew around. The silence seemed apt to last forever until Kalua yawned and broke it and said like all little sisters who love their big brothers so much, "Naruto-sama, let me sleep beside you."

It compelled faces, soft complaints, and jealous thoughts from the girls, which only ended when Kushina used her rights as a mother and declared that she would only let Kalua if Naruto would let her as well. Tenten grew cold.

Because this fact was left out in the introductions, Karui, Karin, and Akito stared at the beautiful red-head. She could not. She was too young. Was Naruto borne of rape? Kushina calmly explained the hows and the whys and asserted her position a little more forcefully afterward.

Tenten rudely pinched Kushina's side as they walked behind the group going to their tents. "Don't you ever," she hissed.

"I hate my son, remember?" Kushina teased.

"Kushina-san..."

Kushina said seriously, "I'm his mother and thank you you pointed that out. I'm over it. These past few days, he was gone. He left with my sinful heart and forgot to bring it along coming back." Her smile did not reach her eyes and her eyes' sadness did not touch her lips. A hand grabbed Tenten's heart and she thought how cruel fate was.

...

They woke before the sun rose and ate breakfast together. Goodbyes were but a formality. Hashirama was happy with it. Hope of seeing each other again was still in each of them. This war was just a pass-time and a minor consideration compared to days of happiness ahead. These people were strong. He felt relieved to learn that day that the shinobi world was at least rearing young ones to get used to its darkness. With eyes bright and optimistic disposition, they parted ways. Naruto began his journey to the Narrow Path with Akito, Karin, Karui, Aika, Setsuko, Katsuo, Kalua, and his mother Kushina.

...

To be continued...

Author's note: It took a long time before I was freed of eighty hours a week work demand. It nearly killed my enthusiasm for writing . But now I'm back. I'll do my best to keep this story alive. I hope you keep reading, too.


	65. Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Entry to Ajit

Ajit was an industrialized city. Smoke drifted from chimneys which where higher than the wall surrounding its territory. The bridges, tens of them, supported people crossing the wide, circular moat around the wall. These bridges were designed to project out like spokes of a wheel, some higher, some lower, entering different gates, gates that were wide enough for three caravans rolling side by side. Akito, who had been there twice, explained that what they saw was only the entrance facing the general south of Ajit, but the City accepted travelers from every corner of its wall. It was like a sponge where one could find a pore only a little further off from another pore. She also pointed out that the moat was actually nature's original, not man-made, and when they turned to it a second time, they saw that it was flowing.

"It is a river. One of the Antlers," Akito said. "Once there was no wall separating Ajit from the river, but the inhabitants became afraid after the war, and now, originally a life-giver, it's as toxic as what their fear made them to be."

People of different race, some not even human-looking, populated the area. Because of this, Kalua's dragon-like skin was hardly noticeable. But it was not so reassuring for the poor girl. She kept herself as hidden as possible in Naruto's sleeve, not even looking up to see which way they were going. Naruto felt sadness from this, so he steered her to a stall where an old woman sold hairclips.

"Which color do you like?" he asked. Amazingly, the other girls were sensitive enough not to be jealous. Kalua's innocence and helplessness around people made her the baby sister of the party. Her smile, no one doubted now after seeing it, was a shooting star that brought so much delight to hearts, be it weary or broken or in a long time had been cold until then, or simply incapable of feeling. Naruto did not pity her and they knew it. You could not help doing anything for that smile.

Kalua shook her head, burying her face into Naruto's arm even more. Aika, for a second, hated how humans could be so cruel. Akito, being worshiped, forgiven, and protected for her beauty, was humbled in front of the frightened girl. The rest did not know how to proceed.

"Here," the old lady of the stall said. In her hand she held a band with a small yin yang ornament. "I don't know about fashion but this is something special. I bought it from a child, a little girl. She was a leper. You heard me right, she's as dead as can be, buried and left with nothing to mark her grave 'cept for a dead log. Nobody knew her, they said, but I found her mother one day and learned that she lived just a couple of corners away. I slapped her good, that bitch. I might have even gotten her wisdom tooty. But that woman laughed in my face, told me that the girl chose her fate, told me she was the most courageous of all. Later I heard that she almost got her siblings infected with the leprosy and left one night without word. Her mother brought her food, occasionally, and there was one thing she would never forget: her daughter never thought of dying. She left where she was unwanted and a danger to everyone, but she lived seeking for something else to live for despite the hopelessness of it all." The old woman stared at Kalua. "You are so beautiful it makes my heart ache, and it will be a shame if you choose not to be. So here, take it. Put it in your hair and remember."

Kalua looked at the old woman, to the band, and then to Naruto, eying him inquiringly. Naruto smiled in encouragement. Kalua took the band in her palm and smiled a thank you to the old woman.

"Let me put that on you," Karin offered.

Kushina stayed behind to settle the purchase while everyone crowded around Kalua. She produced a silver coin. "I think this is too much a payment. Give me three more, and be sure each is unique."

"You cheap hog! I'm not bargaining!" said the old woman.

"That was a good story, but your delivery was too perfect. Is it not?" Kushina grinned at the frown on the woman's hairless brows. "Accept it, or you'll lose your business here. It will only take a tattler like you. For your information, I'm a nagger, pretty much a rank higher than you."

Grudgingly, the old woman gave in. Kushina knew how these things worked. Merchants, the dirty ones, were like mind-readers. They could smell prey miles away. They were master manipulators where if you fell for it, it would only be later that you realized what you bought was something you did not need, no matter how it had seemed to be while you were under their spell. The old woman was one, and she had tried upping the band's price by three times its worth. A silver was still too much and Kushina knew it was the reason the old woman did not haggle for long. She would just compensate later, when no stranger was around, for Kalua's smile. Still, it was a mystery how sometimes evil intentions and selfish motivations could be a beacon for lost souls.

...

Naruto was relieved to see Kalua darting glances around. She could not hold her gaze when she caught somebody staring, but she did not keep her head down for too long like the first time. Her eyes shimmered every time she found something interesting to her. The area at the other side of the moat was littered with stalls selling birds, puppies, fruits, garments, swords...everything it seemed, and Kalua could not contain her excitement. Karin had braided a pencil-thin tail at the side of Kalua's face and from there, with every turn of head, every nod and chuckle, the yin yang ornament bobbed in tandem. The story of the old hag affected Kalua deeply because she could relate with the leper's disease. It was not the desolation or loneliness but the feeling of alienation from people that hit her. The knowledge that somebody else might have been pushed away like her for reasons she could not understand diluted the bitterness she felt. Naruto had gone through such tragedy, but he impressed her so much she could not imagine him crying in fear in a corner. But the leper girl was different and she could see her clearly with her tiger-like eyes.

Kalua took a while more until she could finally gawk and tell her thoughts. She commented about the long eyebrows of an old man which he in turn wiggled in her direction. Kalua laughed until tears flowed out her eyes. Her laughter was a child's, no inhibition and ironically, like leprosy, contagious. They were delighted to see her enjoying. Her joy pulled their pace a little slower as a story-teller kept his audience seated, waiting for more. Such a nice day, and it could have been a gift if it were longer, even for an hour or two.

...

Karui, with her vigilance, noticed not only merchants and hagglers among the crowd. There were also warriors in it: swordsmen, shinobi, archers, knights, and some hooded group she could not decide what to call. Maybe they were also here for the Narrow Path, she muttered to Karin. Setsuko said that they smelled filthy. Katsuo nodded in assent.

"Look. Some are even posers," Akito said. When they looked up, they understood. "Blond hair is rare in this country. And usually people of Sanmyaku have stronger blood and even if the father is blond, offsprings tend to have black hair. Reiko-senpai is treated special because of it, and she is one of the few with a legitimate record in this country. You are not of Sanmyaku if you are blond. Watch. You cannot underestimate the guards here."

A moment later, a commotion erupted. A blond man insisted that he was Asami, the Lotus shinobi who had tamed the Queen of Destruction. Aika giggled at the mistake. The guard at the desk, huge and all business, stood up and held the troublemaker by his scruff, like a kitten, then he threw him into the reeking moat. The blond raged and spouted if the guard was blind. Could he not see that his hair was blond? Nobody else was blond like him. The guard replied that he saw a lot today, taking a glimpse at Naruto, and then from a couple more, including a lovely teenager. Not missing anything, the guard said, "And the name is Asahi. I also heard that he was a looker." The fake began to say something in defense, but it was too late. The dye might have been resistant to water if it was ordinary water, but the river's was not.

"If I were you, I'd be getting out by now. The rope's ten feet away," the guard said and turned to the queue. "Next!"

The next group gathered around the desk. Rustle of paper, a few questions, and the guard let them through. The hooded group came next. The one leading leaned forward and whispered something to the guard's ear. The guard looked intently at the hooded stranger. He told the hooded stranger something. In response, the hooded stranger nodded, then the guard let them through after that. Before calling the next batch, he heaved a harsh breath and hissed a curse.

...

Akito volunteered to handle the business of their entry. Naruto stood behind her as she talked. When the guard asked for their purpose, Akito reached inside her kimono's sleeve and produced a rectangular, tussled insignia engraved with a tree, the emblem of Morigakure, Hashirama's mark. The guard looked impressed but tried to be as professional as he could. He stared at Naruto over Akito's shoulder and asked if he was Asahi. Naruto nodded. Akito told the guard that they were there to try for the Narrow Path.

"He is blond," said the guard. "I could not possibly just let him in, with or without Lotus-sama's blessings."

"I know," Akito said. Holding the bag of money up, she added. "I'm not a rookie."

The man peeked inside the bag and the reflected light of gold showed on his face. He had seen far more enough money in one place for him to get too excited, but he admitted that the amount was something. He could live like a king for five years without working if he took it. After appraising an estimated amount in his mind, he picked a coin and inspected it. It bore the characters for Shibari. He pointed that out to Akito, and the girl affirmed it. Hibarashi Shibari was their patron. Sensing that he had everything he must know, he grabbed the bag and handed it over to the soldier standing to his right.

"Take them to Amuro-san," he told the soldier. To Akito he said, "Follow this boy." Then, going back to business, he barked for the next in line.

...

To be continued...


	66. Chapter 66

Chapter 66: The Other Naruto

He thought what he was feeling was what erotica books said about orgasm. He was a eunuch and his vow of celibacy had granted him a dry and rough blanket he called manhood. But today, when the boy who looked like a girl had been given permission to play with his body, he experienced pleasure he had not felt before. He could not determine how many times had he reached climax and wet his pants.

"Yes, yes! I'm already dead, right? Why can I still speak? Why can I still see you?" Kagitora muttered. He was spread-eagled in front of the Akabari throne, wrists and ankles bound with a rope to the ceiling and columns. The boy was tweaking a part of his intestine with an amused countenance.

"I thought the royalty would smell nice. You smell the same. Your blood is the same as those other people," the child whose name was Jocho Shizumaru said, Kuogan shining. "Plasma is present. The red ones, the white ones. How are you different to them? I thought you descended from God."

"God? Don't mock me! I don't believe in God! People evolved from plants!" Shizumaru tugged at his intestine, causing him to sigh in pleasure. "Why don't I experience pain? What did you do to me?"

"There is a God. A lowly man such as yourself cannot mock His existence." Shizumaru cut a small chunk from Kagitora's liver and tossed it behind him. A large, bony hand shot out from the shadows. The owner of the hand groaned contentedly from the treat. "And you want to know about pain? With this mutilation I've done, are you prepared to experience it?"

Kagitora laughed. "I know! I'm still alive because I'm immortal!"

"You are not listening!" Shizumaru touched Kagitora's forehead with the tip of his forefinger. The current king howled.

"Shizumaru, stop that!" a woman behind him said. She was tall and handsome, garbed in full battle regalia with a large sword dangling from her waist. "His voice is annoying."

Shizumaru returned his forefinger to the king's head and the king's crunched up face smoothed as the feeling of exquisite pleasure flooded in. "I'm sorry, Amari-onee-sama. I won't do that again."

"Lord Madara will be arriving tonight after he meets with the Head. Make sure to stitch him back so as to be presentable."

"Oh, my beautiful Amari, how are you doing?" Kagitora said.

Amari did not even look at the current king. She turned and left.

"Did you hear that? Lord Madara is coming! I'm sure he will be pleased to see what I did with you."

"Madara? I think I heard that name before."

"He's in the history books, you fool! Don't you know that he's the only one who could stand up against the Senju? He told me about their fight. They were awesome."

"Oh, interesting. I want to meet this lord of yours."

"You will love him as I do, king of fools. I'm sure of it."

Kagitora smiled. "Pretty weird your group is. I would have been scared to death if you don't look like angels."

"We look like angels? Looks are deceiving, king of fools." He brought his hand inside the large cave he had made from Kagitora's torso and reached for the king's heart. "I'll borrow your heart for a while. I like watching old people's heartbeat."

…

They passed by some people with downcast eyes along the dark tunnel where the boy had led them. "Keep your hoods up, please," he told them without looking back. The cloaks were part of the package provided for them when they entered Ajit.

"We did not need these itchy things when we were outside. Why now?" Setsuko asked, scratching her right arm.

"Because as much as possible, they want to keep the impression that only shady people go here," Akito said in a low voice.

"Then—"

"I was surveying. I was studying the glances towards us. I was marking those with too much interest." Akito glanced up at Naruto's back. "In here, the game is played differently. The ones who stand out get plucked. But outside the walls, you can do reconnaissance as long as you're careful."

Setsuko turned to the two redheads walking beside her. Seeing them uninterested with the topic, she sighed. "I still don't get it."

"Setsuko."

Hearing Naruto's voice, Setsuko jumped. "Huh! What is it?"

"How's your Sage Mode?" Naruto glanced at her.

"F-fine, I guess," she said, averting her eyes. "I think I'm getting better at it."

"That's great!" He smiled and that was it.

Karin was listening to the exchange. She playfully bumped Setsuko on the shoulder. "I noticed it from our group talk at the camp. Are you…you know?"

Setsuko's face turned red. Facing away, she said, "W-what are you implying?"

Karin grinned, adjusting her glasses on her nose. "Okay, I understand, I understand. You don't want to tell a busybody like me about your secret feelings for our dear hero."

"What feelings?" Her sudden outburst attracted Kushina and Karui's attention for a bit. Embarrassed, she lowered her voice into a whisper. "Don't put words in my mouth!"

"If you keep that up, your head will explode here, honey. Careful." Setsuko's tanned face was very red at this moment.

"What are you—" She caught herself and kept silent for a few seconds. "I don't know what you're saying."

Both of them were silent for a full minute.

"Are you still nervous?" Karin said, making sure that the conversation could only be heard between them.

"Where is that coming from? Rather than being nervous, I'm more of excited."

Karin shrugged. "I'm a sensor, you know. I can sense the condition of a person's chakra. Yours were turbulent a while ago. But when he talked to you, you calmed down. You felt secure all of a sudden."

"It's none of your business."

With a teasing smile, Karin said, "Don't be flustered. I'm just stating an observation."

"How about you? Why are you here?"

She leaned in closer and said in a conspiratorial tone, "That guy is crazy about me. He came to the prison one day and seduced me. Then he made me his sex slave all the days we were in Konoha—ouch!"

Kushina was pinching her cheek, suddenly in front the two of them. "Don't be a liar now, Karin-san. I didn't know that you hold so much indecent thoughts about my son, but isn't it better if you just keep it to yourself?"

Karin pulled herself away and rubbed at her sore cheek. "Kushina-san, please don't act as if he is yours!" It was pretty funny to watch how they bickered with subdued breaths.

"Yes, he's mine!" Kushina retorted. "He's my son, and I'm his alone! I-I mean, he's mine alone!"

"You incestuous old hag! You're the one harboring indecent thoughts here!"

Kushina glared at Karin. "Are you trying to pick a fight?"

"We are already fighting!"

"Obaa-san! Hurry up, hurry up!" Aika's small voice called out to them. They realized that they had been left behind. Even Setsuko was ten paces away now. They did a glaring match for two seconds before Kushina relented with a sigh.

"Okay. Let's go." They began walking.

"You're pretty weird for a mother," Karin said, keeping a good distance from their companions. "I mean, it is normal for sons to have a crush on their moms, but this is the first time I've seen a mom having a crush on her son."

Kushina seemed reluctant to respond, but she did after thinking a couple of minutes. "I can't help it. I haven't seen him for a long time, making us practically strangers to each other. Then I've miraculously been given this body that I think, often than not, have a curse of lewdness. But I'm trying not to give in to it. Sometimes, when the urge is overwhelming, I wish I'd die. I also feel guilty whenever I yearn to embrace or kiss him. And I will not keep it from you. I tried to have—"

"Okay! Let's not go there. The word mother will lose all its meaning if you say it."

"Yeah." Kushina smiled, sadly. "If I were to be given one wish, I don't know what would be better: to have a body that does not respond to him sexually or to erase his and everyone's memory of me being his mom."

"Don't tell me you're actually considering it."

Kushina just shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is my resurrection has given me more pain than happiness, not that I'm not grateful I was given the chance. Let's drop this. Anyway, thinking about it now, I don't know how you made me talk that much to you."

Karin smiled. "Because we're both redheads?"

Kushina smiled back. "Maybe."

After turning to the left and passing four doors, their guide stopped and announced, "We're here."

"I will take it from here," Akito said. "Thank you for the trouble."

The boy bowed his head and left without another word.

Akito knocked at the door. A deep, perfunctory voice told them to come in.

…

Amuro Yoshiaki, age 42, was a veteran of the trade. He had dealt with under the table transactions and dark elements in Ajit for all his life which started when he was twelve. Now he had the dispassionate countenance of someone who had done nothing but routine every day for thirty years.

"Amuro-san," Akito said.

Amuro shifted his big girth on his chair and rolled his shoulder. He kept staring at Akito. "Good morning."

Akito slid the Morigakure's insignia over the table. "We came here for the Narrow Path."

The huge man took a good look at the insignia with the tree emblem. Then he grunted and looked up at Naruto, measuring him. "So you're the famous Asahi, Second Savior of Sanmyaku, as they say."

"I am," Naruto said.

Amuro nodded twice in acknowledgement. He shifted his attention on Akito. "We are still completing the number for this batch. The next floating ship will depart two days from now. Lodging and food will be provided and of course," he pulled a drawer and produced a white, folded cloth. "This is for the blond."

Naruto picked the folded cloth and let if fall. It was a white cloak with the Yin and Yang symbol printed on its back.

"That's what you paid for. You are now an executor under my office. That's what the cloak means. People see me as an eccentric and I have executors of all sorts. I have this thing about going out the cordillera just to collect them. They will look at you awkwardly at first, but they are used being around me. They will only find you either as a pussy teaser or as my slave."

"What's a pussy teaser?" Kalua asked, aiming her sparkling tiger-like eyes at Kushina.

"Oh, sorry for that," Amuro said. "It's been a long time since I saw a kid included in a group vying for the Narrow Path. I mean a tamer of cats, child."

"Really?" Kalua had not taken her eyes from Kushina. Kushina reluctantly agreed with Amuro just to end it.

"Yes, honey," she said.

"Anyway, before I take you to your lodging, there's somebody who likes to meet you first." Amuro pushed himself away from his desk and stood up. "And it's a _real_ somebody_._" Without breaking stride, he walked up to the door. "I'll take you to her."

…

Yori stood brooding at the big window of her room in the Castle Tora. She was thinking of Naruto again, and once she began, it would take a while until she could take her mind away. She could see the bustle of Ajit below, how the people busied themselves to prepare for war. The sun gleamed on weapons and armors. The forges' smoke stacks did not let up even for a single hour. Floating ships hovered and hummed on tower ports, waiting on the long queue of immigrants on the platform.

Knocks came from the door, and a man said, "Yori-hime-sama, Amuro-sama is here to see you."

Amuro? Her heart began to beat fast in her chest. Ajit assigned him to ferry the wannabes to the Narrow Path. _Could it be…?_ She found herself trembling slightly as she turned to the door. _Could it be…? _"C-come in," she squeaked, one hand clenched at her heart. Tears sprouted at the corner of her eyes. _Could it be…?_

The door swung in. Her eyes fell upon the old butler in his familiar black tuxedo, then upon the big man that she guessed was Amuro. Finally, she turned her attention to the group and saw him. The room, the furniture, the sound, the other people disappeared as the familiar face of the man she had fallen in love with filled her vision. She could not remember when she had started walking. Her throat dry and tight, she whispered his name. And then she reached him. Her arms automatically embraced him. She buried her face into his neck.

"Is that really you?" she said, tears streaming down her eyes. "Is that you, Naruto?"

Naruto put a hand on her head. "Long time no see, Yori."

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I was so worried."

"You caught wind of what happened to us in Tanimori?"

"Yes. I heard the story and I was really angry with the Lotus. I was searching for you. I know it could have turned out another way, but Ajit was my best guess." She looked up to his face, arms still enfolded around his waist. "I missed you. I don't know what could have happened to me if you took longer."

He did not take longer, but their stares would have if Kalua did not break the atmosphere by hesitantly calling out, "Nii-chan."

Amuro, Kushina, and Karin cleared their throats at the same time, as they found the too sweet air in the room uncomfortable. Katsuo was looking away. Karui was glaring at the floor.

Aika butted in and pushed Yori and Naruto apart. "What's the big idea?" she said, glaring at Yori. "Why are you acting too familiar with onii-chan?"

Amuro scratched his cheek. "Maybe I ought to go back to my office." When no one paid attention to him, he told the butler to tell them he still got a lot of work to do and escaped.

Yori said, "Naruto, my, my, you didn't tell me you have sisters." She looked at the other women for the first time and the smile in her eyes vanished. Now she was faking it. "My, my, what lovely companions!"

"I'm his mom!" Kushina said.

"I'm his sex slave!" Karin said.

Kushina scowled at Karin.

"You pervert," Setsuko hissed while pinching Naruto's side.

"I gave him my first kiss but don't be mistaken it was from a bet and that perverted Hashirama tricked me into doing it." Karui put her hair behind one ear. "So…so what I'm saying is he's my first time yeah but it does not mean anything."

Akito cleared his throat. "Amuro-san said you wanted to see us." Her voice broke the chaos before it escalated further. "Please be informed. We are still cooperating with Hashirama-san. I'm his deputy commander, Kamakiri Akito."

Yori caught herself this time and assumed an authoritative bearing. She showed them her formal, political smile. "Let me apologize for my unsightly behavior. I'm Princess Yori Sagai, heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Taka. Also, Prince Naruto Uzumaki, known as the Second Savior of Sanmyaku, is my lawfully wedded husband."

…

Sitting around the oval table near the large windows of the room, Akito filled Yori in the latest happenings, including Hashirama's plan of training Mushashi's people.

"We need your help, Yori," Naruto said.

Yori stared into Naruto's eyes. "What I want is to be with you. I cannot stand the worry anymore. I know you don't see me that way, but Naruto, you're my husband. It is my right to be by your side. Always."

"You cannot consummate your marriage while this war is going on," Akito said. She looked at Naruto, and in her eyes, she seemed to be saying, "How many, Naruto, how many before you are satisfied?"

Yori caught the suggestion, and it made sense to her.

"We need to end this war in the shortest possible time, Yori, and to do that we need your cooperation. I need your skills," Naruto said.

Slowly, Yori stood up and spread her hands on the table. "I want to be alone with Naruto."

Akito nodded to her companions. "We will leave then."

"No. What I want to say…" Yori blushed. "I want to walk around town with him. And, and, and I want to do the things normal couples do after the wedding."

Kushina cleared her throat. "Princess, I still don't agree with this marriage, and as Naruto's mother, I still have a say in what happens between you two." She gazed up at the beautiful short-haired princess, and she must have seen something on the girl's face that made her let go. Sighing, she said, "You're still kids—" she sharply looked at Naruto, "—and not drunk or under the influence of Genjutsu, so I trust you to behave properly." Yori brightened. Feeling satisfied, Kushina stood up. "It might even be a good change of pace for my son to spend some time alone with a single girl."

Yori's brow twitch. "I see. So, Anata, these girls are not mere friends, huh." At Naruto's confused expression, she could not help but smile. "Really!"

The girls had a knowing smile on their lips. They knew and sympathized. The anxiety Yori felt towards the girls' relationship with her husband abated a little. She returned her eyes to Akito. "I'll think about this, but if this helps, I want you to know that you've already convinced me."

Akito nodded and turned to Naruto. She did not say anything, only stared at the man who seemed to mysteriously affect all the girls around him.

"Kalua will come, too!" The dragon-scaled girl grabbed Naruto's arm and buried her face into his back.

Before the other girls could replicate that clever move—though it was completely innocent when it came to Kalua—Kushina interjected with, "Princess, I want you to take Kalua with you. Do not worry. She's completely harmless."

…

The lion growled when its master stirred. A hand rubbed the golden mane of the large beast.

"I know," the man said, staring at the sky with his blue eyes. The small silver shuriken hanging from his ears swayed as he got up from the back of the lion. "He's coming." He approached the small stream beyond the tree and washed his face. What stared back from the water was Naruto's face, only older and more confident. His eyes had seen a lot and this showed in his steady gaze. "I've been waiting, my other self. Let me see how you turned up in this world."

_To be continued…_

Author's Note:

I know. But I still want you to know that I'm trying my best. Sorry for the long wait, guys.


	67. Chapter 67

The story until now…

After falling into the Mouth of Hades, a pool at the bottom of Konoha's highest waterfall, Naruto woke up in Nue, a kingdom in Sanmyaku, a closed country. He met Tsuneo, a shinobi under oath to protect the two heiresses of Kogiwara, Midori and Hiromi. Starting with their clash with Zuko, Naruto was swept into a new adventure.

Naruto met Hashirama of the Senju, the Shodai Hokage, and through him, he learned how to attain Shihai, the fourth of the five stages of controlling a Biju. In the Village of Dogs, assisted by Baba, the current ruler of the village, Naruto succeeded in attaining Shihai.

A twist of fate brought back Kushina, Naruto's mother, to life. When Naruto returned to the real world, she was with him, doing her best to make up for the time she had lost. In the Temple of the Descending Dragon, Shitto made them taste the power of the Left Wing of the Swallow, an organization under Madara Uchiha, and in this brief clash, Shitto acknowledged Naruto's strength.

Hashirama then told Naruto about an incoming war and sent him to Taka, the kingdom floating on air. Here, Naruto managed to defeat a legendary symbol in Sanmyaku, the Queen of Serpents, a giant snake that almost destroyed Sanmyaku once a long time ago. Because of this, Naruto became a hero. Naruto was then married off to King Haruo's eldest daughter, Yori.

When he flew back to Tanimori, Shibari Hibarashi welcomed him, warmly. But then, Hibarashi set a trap, using him to make Chiasa admit that she was a spy. Hibarashi decided to execute Chiasa for her serious crime. On the day of her ritual suicide, Naruto saved her. He and Hashirama had an angry exchange. In the end, Hashirama decided to let them go. Naruto and Chiasa, together with Neji, Lee, Aika, Tenten, Katsuo, and his mother Kushina left the estate that same day.

Yumiko was still upset with what had happened between Naruto and Chiasa, so she hid herself from him. This prompted him to go into his seal to search for her. He eventually found her by heeding a mysterious voice in his head. Yumiko showed herself and defeated Naruto in their fight, but in doing so, she unintentionally showed him her gruesome past. Naruto understood her hatred and decided to free her of the Hakke Fuin seal by performing the second form of Yuujo, where he separated the massive chakra of the Biju from its medium. Yumiko finally woke up in her original body somewhere, where she freed three other celestial beings from their confinement.

Naruto and his friends met the Kalulan tribe. They told him about what Chiasa had done and who she really was. Despite all the odds, Naruto chose Chiasa over good sense and went with her to confront Kalua. Kalua tried to kill Naruto using Chiasa's body. Chiasa was wounded but she successfully got Naruto inside her mind. Here, Naruto met Kalua. He won her over with his kindness.

Naruto, using Beast's Portal, went to Konoha to get Chiasa treated. His sudden appearance confirmed Tsunade's earlier declaration to the other Hidden Villages that he was still alive. There was a big uproar when he told them his intention to finish what he had started in Sanmyaku. When he wouldn't budge, they forced him to take reinforcements with him. Shikaku suggested that he took Karin, the sensor that had once been Sasuke's comrade. He accepted the idea, wholeheartedly.

Meanwhile, Sasuke fought with Killer Bee. In their fight, he attained the Saiga Sharingan, a mythological form of the pin-wheel eye, used by Amaterasu, the monster who almost annihilated the Senju and Uchiha clan. He killed Killer Bee. Wanting to prove that he was already unredeemable, he destroyed a small village. Because of this Naruto broke his bond with him and promised to stop him whatever it took.

Sasuke killed Orochimaru, but the snake wouldn't go down just like that. He set up a trap and made the four previous Hokage to test Naruto. Naruto proved himself by achieving the impossible feat, even though he almost died in battle. Hashirama brought Naruto, together with Karin and Karui, back to Sanmyaku.

Reiko treated Naruto, but made him promise to seal his Demon Fox Mode, the technique he had used in his battle with the four Hokages. She told him that a mistake in its usage would lead to his death. He promised her that he would use it sparingly and only when needed.

Hashirama took Naruto to meet his team. Akito was doubtful and vowed that she would never accept him unless he proved himself. He defeated Akito in a duel, even though the full output of his chakra had been sealed by Reiko. After the brief visit, Naruto, with Hashirama, Karin, Akito, and Karui, went to Ajit where he met his own team. Hashirama took Lee, Tenten, and Neji to be fighting instructors for Mushashi's men.

Now Naruto was in Ajit, preparing to depart for the Narrow Path. He was reunited with his wife, Yori. The princess introduced herself as Naruto's wife, causing frowns and protests from the other girls, except Kalua. Only the fact that it was a political marriage could diffuse the escalating chaos.

….

Chapter 67: When He Looks at You

Yori was having fun posing in front of the mirror. She was wearing a white one-piece dress that she would be using for the first time in a long time. Her shoulders were bare and every time she made a turn, the godly sight of her white slender legs got exposed.

"I didn't know I would look great in this," she said, then felt embarrassed about it. She thought of wearing a hat, but dismissed it as it might get in the way if she tried snuggling to Naruto. She stared at her reflection on the mirror for a couple more minutes. "If he'd just see me as his woman."

"You look great," a woman's voice said.

Yori whirled around, startled. It was Kushina. "Would you mind knocking next time?"

"I knocked, but no one answered. It occurred to me that you might be a little pre-occupied."

"You should have tried a little harder."

"I would have if the door was not ajar. The sight of you interested me and I couldn't help it."

"Don't make fun of me!"

Kushina raised an eyebrow. "You are forgetting something, aren't you?"

Yori stared at the redhead's face for a time until realization came to her. She cleared her throat and straightened herself. "I apologize for my sudden outburst, _Mother_."

Smiling insincerely, Kushina said, "I think you're taking that sarcasm too far."

"What sarcasm? Aren't you my mother-in-law?"

"From your tone, I was sure you were calling me _hag_. It just came out differently, but the word was there."

"You were just imagining things. Come, Mother, have a seat." Yori went to the tea table and pushed the intercom. "Alfred, bring in some tea for two, please."

"Call me Kushina."

"If you insist, Kushina-san."

After they sat down and were served with tea and cakes, Yori spoke. "What did you see me for?"

"Since it's already late for a stroll—I hope you noticed—I'd like to have this opportunity for a small chat."

"I was just trying this dress out. I haven't worn one in almost two decades. I was not planning to go out today."

Kushina chewed on a bite of cake while she listened. She took a sip of tea and let the silence hang for a few minutes. Yori thought that Kushina was doing fine in trying to invade her power zone.

"I guess Naruto hasn't told you anything, yet," Kushina said.

"No. Not yet."

"And I'm sure he will take his time. He's that kind of guy."

"You're pertaining to what happened in Tanimori."

"I will make this short. We fell out of Shibari's good grace because Naruto saved a spy working for the Left Wing. The unique girl who is always clinging to my son was the one pulling the strings." Kushina looked into Yori's eyes. "She was an enemy."

"I won't hold it against her," Yori said with a straight face.

Kushina observed her and she dared not to turn away. Every word she said was true. Kushina brought the cup to her mouth and sipped. She knew that the redhead was measuring her for what she was worth. Then, for what seemed like eternity, Kushina smiled.

"This tea is good," Kushina said.

"I brought this from home. It's harvested from our garden."

"You've got a lovely taste."

"And you."

Kushina reached out and held Yori's hand. It was full of warmth. The testy aura coming from the redhead was now gone. "You take care of my son and all the precious things he holds dear. Every one of these girls has a story to tell. Naruto has accepted who they are for what they are, and I expect that you do the same. Daughter."

"What I may not be able to tolerate is this harem of his. But that's all."

"As long as he doesn't realize, he's fine," Kushina said. "In these kinds of things, he's terrified to assume."

…

The darkness was suffocating inside the throne room. Only torches illuminated some part of it, but their number was too small to be considered helpful. Kagitora, in his sorry stitched-up state, waited with four members of the Left Wing. Why the other two were not here, he had no idea. Standing to his left was Amari, the White Knight, garbed in her black and white battle regalia. She had blonde hair and a pretty face, but her hands were fast to slice someone's head off if she felt displeased. Next to her was the rugged Aruga, the Ship Destroyer, who made the first strike against the army of Nue. Single-handedly, he had destroyed three thousand ships. He was a big over-confident man, dressed in black, with eyes as dispassionate as steel. Standing to his right was the beautiful boy, Jocho Shizumaru. In this darkness, his Kuogan glowed distinctively. The eyes with crisscrossing gridlines cast a green light like two supernatural orbs. And then there was Shitto the Jester, the one Kagitora feared the most. His white hair and creepy smirk always succeeded in making him feel sick.

They waited enough and now it was time. Kagitora felt a presence. Looking up, he saw how the fabric of reality swirled in the dim room. The faces of the four shinobi lit up in their own way as the imminent arrival of their lord shook the pungent air.

Then there he was. Garbed in black cloak patched with red clouds, a man with an orange mask and a terrifying red eye peeking out a single eyehole appeared. He walked up to the throne and brought his face close to Kagitora's. "It is time you go down the throne, King Kagitora."

Kagitora's last memory was a gloved hand grabbing his face. He thought he would not be killed because Kogiwara's soldiers would not follow anyone but him. Well, he was wrong.

…

The next morning, Yori had her one wish granted before she departed to meet with Hashirama. She had had second thoughts as she had mulled over the proposal last night, but in the end, reason had taken over. Over breakfast she had told everyone about her decision, improving their mood. There were warnings, but they were not that stern. Holding hands was okay. Kissing was okay. But that was all. She said okay, but she did not swear on her honor. If some opportunity showed, she was planning to claim what was hers in the first place. So right now, she was in her white dress, walking with Naruto and Kalua. The only thing she did not like about it was the way Kalua clung onto her husband's arm as if he would disappear any time. She could not even take the initiative to hold his hands out of pride and embarrassment. She did not want Naruto thinking that she was too eager if she could help it. All she could do was to swallow the situation and act as natural as she could. But then everything changed when they reached their third stall where they bought grilled lizard's tails.

Kalua whispered something to Naruto's ear. Naruto looked at Yori, and out of surprise, Yori's "What?" came out wrong. Naruto smiled and grabbed her hand. It was thick and calloused but warm. She suddenly felt like melting on the spot. Kalua was giggling as they resumed their walk. The girl was so beautiful when smiling Yori could not help but kiss her on the cheek. Kalua gaped while holding the warm spot on her cheek, eyes questioning. "Thank you," Yori said. Kalua blinked, looked at Naruto, and when Naruto nodded, Kalua kissed Yori on the cheek as well. With that, and Naruto's approving smile, she forgot all jealousy and her initial feelings of unpleasantness and decided that this would definitely be a good day.

Having Naruto's hand in hers, Yori relaxed and now she was able to watch her surroundings. A squad of Nue foot soldiers marched by. Some fat men were drinking beer and laughing at something their comrade had said. They must be mountain bandits from the way they looked—broad swords, bandana around their heads, dirty clothing, beards. Somehow she did not feel that disgusted at them as when she first came here. Apprentices ran around with scrap metal on their shoulders. There were two kids arguing who would be carrying from the front. Listening closely, Yori found out that the older brother wanted to take care of the heavier side, but his little brother wanted for him to rest a little. Two medium class amplifiers trundled along a cart of swords. Medium class amplifiers were external armors fifteen to twenty feet high. Yori's amplifier Auria was small class, only ten feet and designed for speed. It was the first time Yori saw an actual medium class in action.

"Those things are a little different from the one you showed me," Naruto observed.

"These are mass-produced designs," Yori said. "Mine was made by an artisan. Auria is the only one of its kind in the world."

"They remind me of Gama-chan."

"Gama-chan?"

"My purse. It was made from a frog."

Yori smiled. Indeed, the two amplifiers resembled frogs walking upright on their hind legs.

The sky was filled with floating ships. Some were small frigates, some as big as galleons. Of course, there were the warships with Nue's Yin and Yang emblem on their flags. The warships inside the city were there to change crews, a routine they practiced every week. This was done to ensure the crew could rest properly on the ground while they could. The rest patrolled the nearby territories. To the rightmost tower port in the north, Yori found her ship, the _Great Wind._ She raised hers and Naruto's entwined fingers to point at it. The ship sparkled as its white hull reflected the sunlight. Kalua expressed her wish to board the ship, but Yori gently informed her that it was hauling in provisions and they did not want to be a nuisance.

"But I know something more enjoyable," Yori said. "Follow me."

They went to the west gate and crossed a bridge. They ascended a hillock, walking together with rich patrons, who were in Ajit as tourists. As they reached the peak, a hot-air balloon rose in front of them, the first one of the day. Kalua shrieked in delight. She went ahead to take a closer look. She was laughing and those clear gales spread joy around. The man in the basket waved at the beautiful dragon-scaled girl. Kalua waved back before she turned and expectantly searched Yori's face.

"Yes," said Yori. "We'll ride one."

Kalua could not stop laughing as their own hot-air balloon ascended to the sky. The fabric of the balloon was painted with a toddler riding a Nue dragon, the one with a serpentine body and no wings. Kalua had taken a shine to it and not wanting to disappoint the girl, Yori and Naruto agreed. The wind smelled of smoke, grass, and gun powder, but as it was, it was not that bad, in Yori's opinion. The smell of the burning castle where her mother had died was bad. Not this one. She closed her eyes, pushing the memory away.

After awhile, the exhaustion and coziness caught up to Naruto and he dozed off. Yori laid his head on her lap. She fixed his bangs to the side and put a kiss on his forehead.

"I was an only child for a long time," Yori said. "Until my father married my aunt and she gave birth to Tamiko and Mika. My mother and my aunt were sisters, and since childhood, they both loved my father. Unfortunately, my aunt died while giving birth to Mika. She was sickly, you see, but very pretty. She resembled my mother a lot. I loved her."

Kalua's way of speaking changed. It was as if she had suddenly grown older. "Your mother died."

Yori did not miss the change in Kalua's tone. "Yes. One of the Left Wing killed her." She stared at Kalua.

"So you knew."

"I don't hold it against you. Someone else killed my mother."

"I'm sorry. I only remember bits and pieces. Something happened to my memory when I—"

"It doesn't matter."

There was silence between them for a few minutes. Then Kalua spoke.

"You might be wondering how I came under his care."

"I do," Yori said. "I'm not planning to go down while my husband still sleeps. Would you tell me?"

Kalua exhaled and looked at the clear sky. "I did not know my parents. A witch raised me in the mountains. She was the only human I knew for a very long time." She looked at her hand. "I killed her."

…

She had not known the witch's name. Kalua only called her oba-san, and they lived peacefully that way. The old hunchbacked woman did not talk much, but she taught Kalua to read early. The scrolls and parchments in the old hut became her closest friends. Mostly they were about medicinal herbs, Genjutsu, and skin dwelling witchcraft. She found them fascinating, but her fascination was just like looking at a lake from a window. She was content not to go and touch the water. She was already happy that she would see something when she needed to look.

One day, while the old witch gathered mushrooms, Kalua found a hidden compartment on the floor. Inside she found a small bound book. It was a journal. Kalua did not know that time that it was the witch's voice written on it. The narrator was telling about her journey to the plains—and humans. She kept her discovery a secret. From the molds and the smell of the small book, she was sure that her oba-san hadn't held it in a long time. So she read and reread and learned without the witch's consent and guidance. She grew to love them, these humans of the plains and their strange ways. Then a time came that she could not hold it inside anymore. She just had to see these humans herself.

"I made the mistake of looking for them. I did not know that my curiosity would rob me of my life. But, you see, it was the first time I would see another human being in all the ten years I was up there. I was curious and excited and optimistic."

It was not really her fault. She believed that she was normal, until she almost killed a child with a weak heart just by her appearance. The child, maybe four or five summers old, had been playing near the river. Kalua hid behind a bush and watched in delight. A few minutes later, as her heart pounded in her chest, she gathered up her courage and showed herself. Out of fear, the child fell into the river. Kalua dived in to save him. She carried the child to the bank, begging him to wake up. But the child was not waking up and was barely breathing. Kalua panicked and decided to bring the child to the nearest dwelling she could find. Fortunately, she did not have to search too long. Inside a mere hundred yards, she saw a white stone hut and white blankets swaying on clotheslines.

A woman came out of the door. "Help!" Kalua shouted. The woman immediately dropped the basket she was carrying. Her face was full of fear. "Please help!" Kalua said. The woman went inside the hut. When she came back, she was holding a pitchfork and her husband's arm. "Anata…Anata…" the woman sobbed. The big man ran towards Kalua, and just as relief was washing over her as he got near, the child woke up and screamed. The child struggled in Kalua's arms. There was a brief moment of dread when Kalua lost her grip on the child, but the big man caught up just in time. "Please help," Kalua said in short gasps. Out of the blue, the big man punched her in the face. Kalua was shocked.

"They had good smiles on their faces. They helped each other through hardships. They are nice people." Kalua sighed. "I believed those things with all my heart and did not give up that easily. I only met three people so far. There were thousands in oba-san's journal. I still hoped that there were humans out there who would talk to me."

…

After running away from the humans who had hurt her, Kalua waited a year before venturing out a second time. The witch had accepted her story about falling from a tree and they never talked about it again. The year passed, the time came. Kalua promised herself not to be too hasty in making an encounter. In her first time, she had forgotten how human beings were different in their point of view about the world. Some were just too deep in their beliefs that they would never care to listen to reason. Since her first encounter, she had made it a point to remember that appearance mattered in their eyes. But despite of all her preparations, misfortune happened again.

"Look! Look what I've found!" The hunter Bargo raised the net containing Kalua to show his two brothers. Kalua was squirming inside, tears flowing steadily from her golden eyes.

The bald one, Nogo, grinned. He had no front teeth. "What a beauty! Look at her, Oga! We could sell her to those eccentric aristocrats in Capital City."

"If I'm not mistaken, this girl belongs to the Ryurui Tribe of the Akuma Islands. She must have been kidnapped and raised here to lay some eggs," Bargo said. "It would be a loss if we sold her. We could be wealthy and enjoy her budding body at the same time. Isn't that sweet?"

"What eggs?" This time, it was Oga, the youngest, who spoke.

"Every fifty years, the Ryurui chose a girl to be the Ryubin. It's the equivalent of Jinchuuriki in the East, but the spirit in question here is the Ookii-ryu, the Great Dragon, the tribe's deity. The tribe treats the Ryubin as a god and she is untouchable. Touching her is sacrilege and punishable by death."

"Make it short. Where's the egg?"

Bargo glared at Oga. "A Ryubin of unmatchable beauty was chosen one half-century. The priest who oversaw the ritual could not contain his lust and fucked her just after the ceremony. She got pregnant in two hours and laid eggs the next morning. But the eggs were not living embryos. They were living gemstones."

Oga looked at Kalua, swallowing. Drool flowed out the corner of his mouth. "We can get rich by fucking her every day. Talk about lucky!"

Bargo was not done yet. "The priest was brutally tortured that he begged to be killed, but the people did not let him die easily. He only escaped the agony when he lost his mind. Since then, the Ryubin was chosen at birth, and no man was allowed to see her. The tribe also became matriarchal where absolute power resides in the women."

"It sounds like a myth," Nogo said. "What I see is a victim of nature's joke. What do you mean by living gemstones anyway? Do they worth more than diamonds?"

"I heard that Taka, Nue, and Kogiwara were given an egg each and the monarchs wore it on their heads." Bargo said, pointing at his head. "It's worth a try, anyway. We won't lose anything. We can just make it so that it will look like we saved her from bandits. She is the only one in this world. They will not care if she's still a virgin or not."

Nogo shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just thinking that we could wring the bastards dry if we kept her virginity."

"Oh, come on, Nogo!" Oga interjected. "It will be the first time we will fuck something like her! Look at her, look! Are you not aroused thinking—"

"She's a fucking child!" Nogo stood up. "Are you out of your mind?"

"It will not change the fact that you are a rapist," Oga said.

"I am. I know. But…"

"Nogo has a point," Bargo said. "We are trying something out of a story. It's better if we do it in the most favorable condition. We will keep her and teach her until she is asking for it herself. Maybe if she enjoys it, we will have a better chance."

"Come on, big brother! You said the Ryubin was raped by the priest!" Oga protested.

"We don't know the details. As I've said, I want a better chance. We could pick somebody up along the way, if you are too desperate."

"Shit! Have it your way, then! Fucking saints." Oga slurped his drool and stomped away.

"Where are you going?" Nogo asked.

"To jack-off!"

Sighing, Nogo shifted his gaze on Kalua, who was now lightly snoring inside the net.

…

Half an hour later, Oga came lumbering from the woods. Nogo and Bargo were eating roasted fish on sticks at the fire. Kalua lay bound beside their luggage, still sleeping.

"Come here and get your fish," Bargo said.

"Unghhh…"

Bargo started to turn when something slashed his right shoulder. Then all hell broke loose. Nogo's head fell onto the fire with the fish still in its mouth. The fire began to burn it, releasing the terrible smell of burning hair and skin, human juices sizzling. Bargo grabbed his dagger, but Oga was faster. He lunged at Bargo and bit a chunk out of his neck. Blood and gore spurted from the wound. Bargo wailed as he desperately stabbed at Oga's side, but Oga's strength never waned. Oga's blade found Bargo's armpit and with a pull, cut off his arm. Bargo began to lose his consciousness. He stuck the knife into Oga's side but could not pull it anymore. Oga was still busy with his neck.

Kalua woke up and shrieked upon witnessing the scene. Oga was momentarily distracted, creating a chance for Bargo to push him off. Bargo had already lost his mind at this point, and while he ran and watered the earth with his blood, he could not say anything but "Demon, demon!"

Oga went to Kalua and began unbinding her. "It's okay. It's oba-san, Kalua." Oga fell face down on the dirt and from his back a lump grew. It was the old hunchbacked witch. Kalua immediately embraced the old woman as if her life depended on it.

The old woman said, "Come, child. Cry as much as you want. You are safe now. You're with me."

…

"My onii-chan was the only person other than oba-san that has given me such assurance." She turned to Yori with a smile, raising her hand to her heart. "He captured this."

Yori scoffed in affectionate jealousy and asked, "So what happened next?"

"I was a mess since that incident, then my oba-san died on me a week after. I found out that she had destroyed some of her chakra gates saving me. I blamed the humans and myself. I killed the only person who loved me because I loved them, these creatures that would kill you because you did not look like them."

"It's—"

"I know," Kalua said. "I became narrow-minded because of anger. But I had the right to be angry. They hunted me down like an animal when they found that filthy hunter raving about a demon. I became a vagabond, suffered a lot, until I found the red-eyed man. He offered me a new life. Since that day I thought I finally found where I belonged until my onii-chan happened."

Yori began to caress Naruto's head. "How did he happen? Could you tell me?"

"I dwelled inside a kunoichi and used her to gather information for the red-eyed man. I experienced everything she experienced. He loved her—I mean, not in that sense, umm, romantically, although—" Kalua glanced up at Yori. Yori did not seem to mind. She even smiled.

"It's what Kushina-san was hinting about, the one with Genjutsu and being drunk in it," Yori said. "He made love with this kunoichi." She looked up at Kalua with a knowing smile. "And you partook in the experience."

Kalua looked away, her face becoming a shade deeper. "What I'm saying is he loved her! She became someone important in his life. A stranger, an enemy, but he would go against the world if needed be. He even went against superpowers like Hibarashi and the Lotus for her sake. I envied her for that, and the order to kill him became just an excuse to rid myself of that uncomfortable feeling. Before he entered the kunoichi's mind to meet me, he already had my heart. I was still denying it, trying to push him off, trying to argue away his kindness, trying to make myself believe that I did not need him, but I knew it was just a matter of time. My heart hurt at the possibility that he might change his mind. I was really afraid that I was ruining my chance of redemption. But he told me to trust him. And now here I am, will never be more loyal to anyone else."

"What's her name?"

"Chiasa. Uchiha Chiasa."

"I bet she's a looker."

"I don't care," Kalua said.

"I'm not asking if you care."

"When onii-chan looks at you, you can't help but feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. That's why I don't care."

Yori pinched Naruto's nose, causing him to wake up briefly. He smiled at Yori, taking her hand away but not letting go of it. He went back to sleep. Yori, feeling satisfied with everything, savored the warmth of his hand around hers.

…

In that twilight, at the setting sun, a big man in tattered cloak contemplated the City of Ajit. Aruga, the Ship Destroyer, held a stone in his hand. "Ah, filthy pigs. There you are, there you are. At last I will have this chance to clean up this city of its mess and transgressions." His mouth stretched into a sneer. He crushed the stone in his hand and laughed as hard as he could.

_To be continued…_

Author's Note: Here I am again. This chapter is for Kalua. I really like her a lot, so please forgive me if you feel like I'm dragging the story.

Smile.


End file.
